31 August 2010
Psalm 26, 28; Job 12:1,13:3-17,21-27; Acts 12:1-17; John 8:33-47
I wonder if verse 5 of the Job passage was the inspiration for Abraham Lincoln’s famous saying, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Job wants no more of their useless words and proverbs of ashes. The friends attempt to speak for God and defend Him in doing right against Job but he knows better, he has done nothing to deserve all this. He begins to call out God and ask for a hearing, a place to plead his case and be told why this has happened to him. Job believes in a world of cause and effect, a world that makes logical sense, where every action has a logical and foreseeable consequence. The reasons for suffering and for good must be knowable and deducible. The problem is that I AM cannot be explained in such a way that we can comprehend its meaning. Some things in this world will remain a mystery to those who are within space and time,
It would be difficult to imagine how angry these folks would have been to hear Jesus first deny they were Abraham’s children, then deny they were God’s children and finally to say that they were children of the devil. The only familial resemblance they bear is to the one who rejects the truth, the father of lies, a murderer. The affront would have been too incredible to even begin to understand. We know that there were those among them who were indeed willing and ready to kill Jesus and that they were spreading lies about Him. He was not making these statements/accusations simply to incite people, He was telling the truth about them and Himself. He was never afraid of truth and never afraid of offending someone with the truth, particularly those who thought themselves to be righteous or religious.
Herod persecutes the church in earnest, killing James the brother of John and arresting Peter with the intention of delivering him up as this year’s Passover sacrifice. The prayers of the church are answered and Peter is miraculously set free in spite of all the precautions Herod took against that possibility; double chains, guards sleeping next to him, guards at the door and then the iron gate of the city itself. Even Peter believes he is dreaming until the angel departed. The scene at the home of John Mark’s mother is humorous, Rhoda is so excited that Peter is there that she leaves him standing outside the locked door, a dangerous business. The believers don’t believe it is Peter, it is surely his angel. Finally they have sense enough to go and see and find, to the amazement of all, that Peter is indeed there but he doesn’t stay with them, going to another place, lest they find him here and the entire body of believers be blamed for the escape.
The Lord is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
O save your people, and bless your heritage;
be their shepherd, and carry them for ever.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
30 August 2010
Psalm 25; Job 12:1-6,13-25; Acts 11:19-30; John 8:21-32
Job’s response to Zophar is as sarcastic as it should be. Where Zophar has questioned Job’s wisdom, Job responds by sarcastically speaking of what great wisdom his friends possess which is actually no wisdom at all, “Who does not know such things as these?” Job rightly speaks of the wisdom of God in ways that Paul would certainly appreciate when he writes to the Corinthians in his first epistle and speaks of the wisdom of God and the foolishness of man. Job makes no claim to wisdom, it comes from God alone and His wisdom makes our thoughts seem as silliness. We stand by grace not by wisdom and understanding.
Jesus speaks from the wisdom of God, the wisdom of which Job spoke. His words have a far deeper meaning but they must be understood spiritually. When He speaks of origins, He speaks of His true origin, not of His earthly birth. Twice in this passage Jesus uses the words “I am,” the name of God. His claims are clear, and here we see that some actually believe in Him. Jesus says that the way to knowledge is to continue in belief and in His ways. If we are true disciples, walking in His way, we will know that He truly is the Lord. As GK Chesterton said, “The Christian faith has never been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.”
Those who were scattered were only preaching the Good News to the Jews they encountered until those from Cyprus and Cyrene began to tell the Gentiles. Barnabas lives into his name as the encourager and his work among the Antiochian church begins to collect this new thing with great success. It must have been a strange thing for the early church to understand what God was doing and what it meant to them. Their collective identity had been tied up in Judaism with a very specific way into the community and the laws that governed every aspect of life that set them apart from these people who were now coming into the kingdom. Jesus hadn’t prepared them for how to assimilate Gentiles into the covenant community. In His life, Gentiles came and Jesus did things for them but what were they to do about bringing them into the church which saw itself as the fulfillment of Judaism. Paul’s mission and ministry were about to begin in Antioch.
Good and upright are You Lord;
therefore You instructs sinners in the way.
You lead the humble in what is right,
and teach the humble Your way.
All Your paths are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep Your covenant and Your decrees.
Psalm 25; Job 12:1-6,13-25; Acts 11:19-30; John 8:21-32
Job’s response to Zophar is as sarcastic as it should be. Where Zophar has questioned Job’s wisdom, Job responds by sarcastically speaking of what great wisdom his friends possess which is actually no wisdom at all, “Who does not know such things as these?” Job rightly speaks of the wisdom of God in ways that Paul would certainly appreciate when he writes to the Corinthians in his first epistle and speaks of the wisdom of God and the foolishness of man. Job makes no claim to wisdom, it comes from God alone and His wisdom makes our thoughts seem as silliness. We stand by grace not by wisdom and understanding.
Jesus speaks from the wisdom of God, the wisdom of which Job spoke. His words have a far deeper meaning but they must be understood spiritually. When He speaks of origins, He speaks of His true origin, not of His earthly birth. Twice in this passage Jesus uses the words “I am,” the name of God. His claims are clear, and here we see that some actually believe in Him. Jesus says that the way to knowledge is to continue in belief and in His ways. If we are true disciples, walking in His way, we will know that He truly is the Lord. As GK Chesterton said, “The Christian faith has never been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.”
Those who were scattered were only preaching the Good News to the Jews they encountered until those from Cyprus and Cyrene began to tell the Gentiles. Barnabas lives into his name as the encourager and his work among the Antiochian church begins to collect this new thing with great success. It must have been a strange thing for the early church to understand what God was doing and what it meant to them. Their collective identity had been tied up in Judaism with a very specific way into the community and the laws that governed every aspect of life that set them apart from these people who were now coming into the kingdom. Jesus hadn’t prepared them for how to assimilate Gentiles into the covenant community. In His life, Gentiles came and Jesus did things for them but what were they to do about bringing them into the church which saw itself as the fulfillment of Judaism. Paul’s mission and ministry were about to begin in Antioch.
Good and upright are You Lord;
therefore You instructs sinners in the way.
You lead the humble in what is right,
and teach the humble Your way.
All Your paths are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep Your covenant and Your decrees.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
29 August 2010
Psalm 148, 149, 150; Job 11:1-9,13-20; Rev. 5:1-14; Matt. 5:1-12
Zophar piles on his own judgment. He is convinced that Job has sinned greatly, based on the measure of his misery. Zophar sees Job’s suffering and misery and concludes that his sin must be nearly unimaginable. His prescription for Job is that he get right with God, Job surely has concealed his sinfulness but if he makes a clean breast of things then he will find everything changed and set right in his life. The formula is a familiar one in western Christianity and it is incredibly destructive. It allows us to feel better about ourselves when we are not suffering and it makes suffering worse for it says that it is all our fault. The other major problem with such doctrine is that it fails to distinguish between forgiveness and consequences. I can be forgiven by God for my sin but still pay a price for that sin. If I cheat on my wife the Lord might forgive me for it and so might my wife but she also might never trust me again and our marriage will be diminished, at least in the short term. Repentance for sin does not imply that our lives will be free of pain and suffering because of sin.
Jesus gives his first major teaching on the kingdom of heaven and in it we see the true ethics of God. Paul covers some of this ground in practical ways in Romans 12. We are to recognize the sinfulness of the world and the sin in our own lives and to mourn over the brokenness of the world but also to be those who move beyond mourning to seeking true righteousness. We are to set the world’s opinion of us aside and seek after God’s favor. All our hope and all our joy is to be found in Him and as we seek Him we will find our hopes realized in the coming of His kingdom both now through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and in the fullness of the coming kingdom. We will be able to longingly pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
If we would truly know something of the surpassing greatness of Jesus, we would seek to see and know what heaven knows here. The fourth chapter of the Revelation shows us the worship of heaven for the Father and here we see Him sharing His glory and worship with the Lamb. If heaven recognizes Jesus as worthy of the worship directed to the Father then we should recognize what a great savior He is and what a great salvation we have received through Him. This passage represents what happens next after Jesus’ ascension in Acts 1, after He passes from earthly sight by ascending into the clouds, He next comes to the throne for glorification. His work of redemption is complete and now comes the judgment of the world and sin but it is accomplished with mercy for those who believe.
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
29 August 2010
Psalm 148, 149, 150; Job 11:1-9,13-20; Rev. 5:1-14; Matt. 5:1-12
Zophar piles on his own judgment. He is convinced that Job has sinned greatly, based on the measure of his misery. Zophar sees Job’s suffering and misery and concludes that his sin must be nearly unimaginable. His prescription for Job is that he get right with God, Job surely has concealed his sinfulness but if he makes a clean breast of things then he will find everything changed and set right in his life. The formula is a familiar one in western Christianity and it is incredibly destructive. It allows us to feel better about ourselves when we are not suffering and it makes suffering worse for it says that it is all our fault. The other major problem with such doctrine is that it fails to distinguish between forgiveness and consequences. I can be forgiven by God for my sin but still pay a price for that sin. If I cheat on my wife the Lord might forgive me for it and so might my wife but she also might never trust me again and our marriage will be diminished, at least in the short term. Repentance for sin does not imply that our lives will be free of pain and suffering because of sin.
Jesus gives his first major teaching on the kingdom of heaven and in it we see the true ethics of God. Paul covers some of this ground in practical ways in Romans 12. We are to recognize the sinfulness of the world and the sin in our own lives and to mourn over the brokenness of the world but also to be those who move beyond mourning to seeking true righteousness. We are to set the world’s opinion of us aside and seek after God’s favor. All our hope and all our joy is to be found in Him and as we seek Him we will find our hopes realized in the coming of His kingdom both now through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and in the fullness of the coming kingdom. We will be able to longingly pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
If we would truly know something of the surpassing greatness of Jesus, we would seek to see and know what heaven knows here. The fourth chapter of the Revelation shows us the worship of heaven for the Father and here we see Him sharing His glory and worship with the Lamb. If heaven recognizes Jesus as worthy of the worship directed to the Father then we should recognize what a great savior He is and what a great salvation we have received through Him. This passage represents what happens next after Jesus’ ascension in Acts 1, after He passes from earthly sight by ascending into the clouds, He next comes to the throne for glorification. His work of redemption is complete and now comes the judgment of the world and sin but it is accomplished with mercy for those who believe.
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
Psalm 148, 149, 150; Job 11:1-9,13-20; Rev. 5:1-14; Matt. 5:1-12
Zophar piles on his own judgment. He is convinced that Job has sinned greatly, based on the measure of his misery. Zophar sees Job’s suffering and misery and concludes that his sin must be nearly unimaginable. His prescription for Job is that he get right with God, Job surely has concealed his sinfulness but if he makes a clean breast of things then he will find everything changed and set right in his life. The formula is a familiar one in western Christianity and it is incredibly destructive. It allows us to feel better about ourselves when we are not suffering and it makes suffering worse for it says that it is all our fault. The other major problem with such doctrine is that it fails to distinguish between forgiveness and consequences. I can be forgiven by God for my sin but still pay a price for that sin. If I cheat on my wife the Lord might forgive me for it and so might my wife but she also might never trust me again and our marriage will be diminished, at least in the short term. Repentance for sin does not imply that our lives will be free of pain and suffering because of sin.
Jesus gives his first major teaching on the kingdom of heaven and in it we see the true ethics of God. Paul covers some of this ground in practical ways in Romans 12. We are to recognize the sinfulness of the world and the sin in our own lives and to mourn over the brokenness of the world but also to be those who move beyond mourning to seeking true righteousness. We are to set the world’s opinion of us aside and seek after God’s favor. All our hope and all our joy is to be found in Him and as we seek Him we will find our hopes realized in the coming of His kingdom both now through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and in the fullness of the coming kingdom. We will be able to longingly pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
If we would truly know something of the surpassing greatness of Jesus, we would seek to see and know what heaven knows here. The fourth chapter of the Revelation shows us the worship of heaven for the Father and here we see Him sharing His glory and worship with the Lamb. If heaven recognizes Jesus as worthy of the worship directed to the Father then we should recognize what a great savior He is and what a great salvation we have received through Him. This passage represents what happens next after Jesus’ ascension in Acts 1, after He passes from earthly sight by ascending into the clouds, He next comes to the throne for glorification. His work of redemption is complete and now comes the judgment of the world and sin but it is accomplished with mercy for those who believe.
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
29 August 2010
Psalm 148, 149, 150; Job 11:1-9,13-20; Rev. 5:1-14; Matt. 5:1-12
Zophar piles on his own judgment. He is convinced that Job has sinned greatly, based on the measure of his misery. Zophar sees Job’s suffering and misery and concludes that his sin must be nearly unimaginable. His prescription for Job is that he get right with God, Job surely has concealed his sinfulness but if he makes a clean breast of things then he will find everything changed and set right in his life. The formula is a familiar one in western Christianity and it is incredibly destructive. It allows us to feel better about ourselves when we are not suffering and it makes suffering worse for it says that it is all our fault. The other major problem with such doctrine is that it fails to distinguish between forgiveness and consequences. I can be forgiven by God for my sin but still pay a price for that sin. If I cheat on my wife the Lord might forgive me for it and so might my wife but she also might never trust me again and our marriage will be diminished, at least in the short term. Repentance for sin does not imply that our lives will be free of pain and suffering because of sin.
Jesus gives his first major teaching on the kingdom of heaven and in it we see the true ethics of God. Paul covers some of this ground in practical ways in Romans 12. We are to recognize the sinfulness of the world and the sin in our own lives and to mourn over the brokenness of the world but also to be those who move beyond mourning to seeking true righteousness. We are to set the world’s opinion of us aside and seek after God’s favor. All our hope and all our joy is to be found in Him and as we seek Him we will find our hopes realized in the coming of His kingdom both now through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and in the fullness of the coming kingdom. We will be able to longingly pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
If we would truly know something of the surpassing greatness of Jesus, we would seek to see and know what heaven knows here. The fourth chapter of the Revelation shows us the worship of heaven for the Father and here we see Him sharing His glory and worship with the Lamb. If heaven recognizes Jesus as worthy of the worship directed to the Father then we should recognize what a great savior He is and what a great salvation we have received through Him. This passage represents what happens next after Jesus’ ascension in Acts 1, after He passes from earthly sight by ascending into the clouds, He next comes to the throne for glorification. His work of redemption is complete and now comes the judgment of the world and sin but it is accomplished with mercy for those who believe.
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
28 August 2010
Psalm 20, 21; Job 9:1,10:1-9,16-22; Acts 11:1-18; John 8:12-20
Leave me alone! That is Job’s prayer to the Lord. Sometimes it is not good to be regarded by the Lord. Job is making his complaint directly to the Lord, not murmuring to these friends and in that he is revealing that he believes God does hear him, that God is paying attention. The problem is that God is paying too much attention to Job, who believes that God is pursuing him in judgment for sin he cannot identify. Job continues to maintain his innocence and he is, in fact, correct. Job alone has the right to pray such things to the Lord. Life, however, isn’t worth living for him under these circumstances and who can blame him. His friends condemn him but God does not. Have you ever known God’s silence in the face of your pleas? It is an awful thing to have happen and friends like these only make things worse.
Jesus speaks into the misunderstanding concerning where he is from but not to give clarity, only to expose their error in thinking and judgment. The Pharisees presume to know all about Jesus when in fact they know nothing at all that resembles the truth. Their appeal is to the law that requires more than one to testify at trial and because no one else attests to Jesus’ heavenly origins they will not receive His testimony. His statement that they do not know the Father would certainly be enough to cause them great anger, they, after all, are the righteous ones in Israel. They don’t recognize real righteousness in Him, and in that failure they prove they do not know the Father at all.
God is doing a new thing and it is bigger than anyone realized. We get a glimpse into the thought of the early church in this lesson from Acts today. They honestly didn’t understand that this message and this gift of the Holy Spirit was for Gentiles so they demand an accounting from Peter as to his activities among them. They understood this to be the fulfillment of the Jewish expectations concerning Messiah and the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, and Gentiles didn’t fit into their picture except as those who would recognize Jewish exceptionalism and become Jews themselves. The Gentile Pentecost turned that thought on its ear and in the end became something to rejoice over but it would be a good long while before anyone really knew what to do about these Gentile Christians.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalm 20, 21; Job 9:1,10:1-9,16-22; Acts 11:1-18; John 8:12-20
Leave me alone! That is Job’s prayer to the Lord. Sometimes it is not good to be regarded by the Lord. Job is making his complaint directly to the Lord, not murmuring to these friends and in that he is revealing that he believes God does hear him, that God is paying attention. The problem is that God is paying too much attention to Job, who believes that God is pursuing him in judgment for sin he cannot identify. Job continues to maintain his innocence and he is, in fact, correct. Job alone has the right to pray such things to the Lord. Life, however, isn’t worth living for him under these circumstances and who can blame him. His friends condemn him but God does not. Have you ever known God’s silence in the face of your pleas? It is an awful thing to have happen and friends like these only make things worse.
Jesus speaks into the misunderstanding concerning where he is from but not to give clarity, only to expose their error in thinking and judgment. The Pharisees presume to know all about Jesus when in fact they know nothing at all that resembles the truth. Their appeal is to the law that requires more than one to testify at trial and because no one else attests to Jesus’ heavenly origins they will not receive His testimony. His statement that they do not know the Father would certainly be enough to cause them great anger, they, after all, are the righteous ones in Israel. They don’t recognize real righteousness in Him, and in that failure they prove they do not know the Father at all.
God is doing a new thing and it is bigger than anyone realized. We get a glimpse into the thought of the early church in this lesson from Acts today. They honestly didn’t understand that this message and this gift of the Holy Spirit was for Gentiles so they demand an accounting from Peter as to his activities among them. They understood this to be the fulfillment of the Jewish expectations concerning Messiah and the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, and Gentiles didn’t fit into their picture except as those who would recognize Jewish exceptionalism and become Jews themselves. The Gentile Pentecost turned that thought on its ear and in the end became something to rejoice over but it would be a good long while before anyone really knew what to do about these Gentile Christians.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
Friday, August 27, 2010
27 August 2010
Psalm 16, 17; Job 9:1-15,32-35; Acts 10:34-48; John 7:37-52
Job’s response is that he knows who God is, that He is righteous and unapproachable and that He has created all things and sustains all things. He knows that God is awe-inspiring and that the fear of God is justified, there is much to fear in a God so big. He also says that if that fearsome aspect of God could be laid aside, if God would meet with him not as God who can judge and destroy, but as one man with another, Job would be willing to plead his case, that he is an innocent man, not the sinful man these friends have accused him of being. In the end, what he says he needs from God is simply mercy.
One of the highlights of this festival is the pouring out of water before the Lord in faith that He will send the rains to replenish the supply. Jesus crying out the offer of living water in the midst of that already dramatic scene is a remarkable thing, here is the fulfillment of the spiritual side of this festival. Of course, the debate on who is this Jesus turns again on his Galileean roots and they can’t get past what they “know” to believe in Jesus. The Pharisees give an interesting test of Jesus’ identity, we don’t believe in Him do we? Their condemnation of the crowds, that they are accursed because they don’t know the law is more a condemnation of their leadership and also reveals their true feelings towards the people Jesus loves.
Peter and his companions are “astounded” at the reality that the Holy Spirit has been given to the Gentiles in exactly the same way they experienced Him at Pentecost. It seems likely that they had no idea what would happen here with the proclamation of Jesus to these Gentiles. God had clearly moved in Cornelius and the proof was the vision and the word of command to go that Peter had received, but what it would mean was not clear at all. Prior to this time they had gone primarily to those who were Jews or to the Samaritans, who were close kin and who were just outside the covenant but those to whom Jesus Himself had gone. This foray to a complete Gentile, though a God fearer, was a move into unknown territory. It must have been thrilling and confusing all at once to see God moving in these people who had previously been those to avoid in life.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
Psalm 16, 17; Job 9:1-15,32-35; Acts 10:34-48; John 7:37-52
Job’s response is that he knows who God is, that He is righteous and unapproachable and that He has created all things and sustains all things. He knows that God is awe-inspiring and that the fear of God is justified, there is much to fear in a God so big. He also says that if that fearsome aspect of God could be laid aside, if God would meet with him not as God who can judge and destroy, but as one man with another, Job would be willing to plead his case, that he is an innocent man, not the sinful man these friends have accused him of being. In the end, what he says he needs from God is simply mercy.
One of the highlights of this festival is the pouring out of water before the Lord in faith that He will send the rains to replenish the supply. Jesus crying out the offer of living water in the midst of that already dramatic scene is a remarkable thing, here is the fulfillment of the spiritual side of this festival. Of course, the debate on who is this Jesus turns again on his Galileean roots and they can’t get past what they “know” to believe in Jesus. The Pharisees give an interesting test of Jesus’ identity, we don’t believe in Him do we? Their condemnation of the crowds, that they are accursed because they don’t know the law is more a condemnation of their leadership and also reveals their true feelings towards the people Jesus loves.
Peter and his companions are “astounded” at the reality that the Holy Spirit has been given to the Gentiles in exactly the same way they experienced Him at Pentecost. It seems likely that they had no idea what would happen here with the proclamation of Jesus to these Gentiles. God had clearly moved in Cornelius and the proof was the vision and the word of command to go that Peter had received, but what it would mean was not clear at all. Prior to this time they had gone primarily to those who were Jews or to the Samaritans, who were close kin and who were just outside the covenant but those to whom Jesus Himself had gone. This foray to a complete Gentile, though a God fearer, was a move into unknown territory. It must have been thrilling and confusing all at once to see God moving in these people who had previously been those to avoid in life.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
26 August 2010
Psalm 18:1-20; Job 8:1-10, 20-22; Acts 10:17-33; John 7:14-36
What a horrible group of friends/counselors Job has in these three! Bildad rips Job right from the start, essentially telling him to shut up, the words of his mouth are a great wind. He has one point to make and he makes it in multiple ways, Job’s sufferings, all of them, are a result of sin in his life. His children died because of sin in their lives, everything is traceable to sin. The only theological concept Bildad knows is retributive justice, sin brings punishment. The problem with his concept is that it knows nothing of the mercy and love of God. All Job’s friends share this myopia, they fixate on a particular aspect of God and fail to see the complete and complex picture before them. Job is a man whom God said was blameless and upright although these three don’t know that, they have it all figured out, bad things don’t happen to good people, they only happen to sinful people. They are explaining a false god to Job and he won’t accept their caricatures.
All through Jesus’ earthly life we see that people don’t understand spiritual words and have only a temporal frame of reference for their thinking and understanding. They want to know where He got His teaching since He had never been taught. They know He wasn’t in the Jerusalem rabbinic schools and they are the ones that mattered, the Ivy League of Judaism. Jesus says He gets His teaching directly from the Father and like any good disciple, is so enamored of His teacher that His teaching points to the one who taught Him. His frustration boils over with their statement that they know where He is from but no one will know where Messiah is from and He cries out, urging them to know the One who sent Him. Finally, we see their utter confusion when He says He is going to the One who sent Him. If it weren’t life and death serious, it would be an Abbott and Costello, Who’s on First routine.
Peter wonders what this vision of the sheet coming out of heaven means for him when suddenly the men show up and Peter is commanded to go with them. Peter is challenged to do what he has never done, go to the house of a Gentile and still he doesn’t know why. God had commanded both men, Peter and Cornelius, and has manifested Himself to them both, for what purpose Peter must have wondered. Cornelius seems to know that Peter has come to share a word with him and the rest and he treats him like a king when he arrives, bowing before him in worship. What an extraordinary thing for a Roman centurion to do before a Jewish fisherman! We are told that “many” have assembled and are waiting for Peter and he has no idea why he is there. We are about to witness the Gentile Pentecost.
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
so I shall be saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18:1-20; Job 8:1-10, 20-22; Acts 10:17-33; John 7:14-36
What a horrible group of friends/counselors Job has in these three! Bildad rips Job right from the start, essentially telling him to shut up, the words of his mouth are a great wind. He has one point to make and he makes it in multiple ways, Job’s sufferings, all of them, are a result of sin in his life. His children died because of sin in their lives, everything is traceable to sin. The only theological concept Bildad knows is retributive justice, sin brings punishment. The problem with his concept is that it knows nothing of the mercy and love of God. All Job’s friends share this myopia, they fixate on a particular aspect of God and fail to see the complete and complex picture before them. Job is a man whom God said was blameless and upright although these three don’t know that, they have it all figured out, bad things don’t happen to good people, they only happen to sinful people. They are explaining a false god to Job and he won’t accept their caricatures.
All through Jesus’ earthly life we see that people don’t understand spiritual words and have only a temporal frame of reference for their thinking and understanding. They want to know where He got His teaching since He had never been taught. They know He wasn’t in the Jerusalem rabbinic schools and they are the ones that mattered, the Ivy League of Judaism. Jesus says He gets His teaching directly from the Father and like any good disciple, is so enamored of His teacher that His teaching points to the one who taught Him. His frustration boils over with their statement that they know where He is from but no one will know where Messiah is from and He cries out, urging them to know the One who sent Him. Finally, we see their utter confusion when He says He is going to the One who sent Him. If it weren’t life and death serious, it would be an Abbott and Costello, Who’s on First routine.
Peter wonders what this vision of the sheet coming out of heaven means for him when suddenly the men show up and Peter is commanded to go with them. Peter is challenged to do what he has never done, go to the house of a Gentile and still he doesn’t know why. God had commanded both men, Peter and Cornelius, and has manifested Himself to them both, for what purpose Peter must have wondered. Cornelius seems to know that Peter has come to share a word with him and the rest and he treats him like a king when he arrives, bowing before him in worship. What an extraordinary thing for a Roman centurion to do before a Jewish fisherman! We are told that “many” have assembled and are waiting for Peter and he has no idea why he is there. We are about to witness the Gentile Pentecost.
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
so I shall be saved from my enemies.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
25 August 2010
Psalm 119:1-24; Job 6:1,7:1-21; Acts 10:1-16; John 7:1-13
Job continues his complaint about the meaninglessness of life. His basic complaint is that life is short, mean and meaningless. His cry is for understanding and for God to leave him alone. What is man that you make so much of him is a bitter cry rather than the marveling of David in the Psalms. When pain is in our lives we want God to look away from us if He will not remove the source of the pain and here the source of Job’s pain is his very existence. There are many similarities and parallels to Psalm 139 with this passage and indeed the entire book of Job, with a striking difference, here there is no resolution into the realization that God’s attention to us is a comforting thing. Job cannot see any good from God’s attention to him. If this is the result of sin, why can God not simply pardon his sin? In my ministry I have heard this very thought expressed and I too have struggled in this same way. Pain is absolutely God’s megaphone into our lives.
Jesus stays out of Jerusalem and its environs as His time has not yet come. There is already a faction that wants to destroy Him and yet there remains work to be done prior to that hour. His family prods Jesus to go to Jerusalem for the feast of booths, a time of remembrance of the years in the wilderness, to recall God’s provision, that prosperity is not the only time when God was present to the nation. Most of the festivals recall God’s mighty actions while the feast of booths is a reminder that sometimes God is with us even when we have just enough, the daily bread of the wilderness and the makeshift, temporary dwellings of the years in the wilderness. Jesus eventually goes up to Jerusalem but quietly and in secret rather than as on Palm Sunday, and He and the disciples hear the buzz about Him, both good and bad.
Cornelius is a man who fears God but has not taken the step of becoming a Jew. Perhaps that would have cost him his position in the army, as the leader of a hundred men? He was a man of character and generosity and here his prayers to God are answered for one who will come and reveal God to him. He sends slaves and a fellow God-fearer from among his soldiers to fetch this Simon, he is careful about who knows what he is doing. Peter is hungry and is waiting on his food when he gets the vision of the sheet coming down from heaven and the command to go and kill and eat. The message is two-fold, God is declaring all food clean but also preparing Peter for the men who are about to come and find him to a place where his understanding of the work of Jesus will be enlarged beyond his wildest imagination.
Deal bountifully with your servant,
so that I may live and observe your word.
Open my eyes, so that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
Psalm 119:1-24; Job 6:1,7:1-21; Acts 10:1-16; John 7:1-13
Job continues his complaint about the meaninglessness of life. His basic complaint is that life is short, mean and meaningless. His cry is for understanding and for God to leave him alone. What is man that you make so much of him is a bitter cry rather than the marveling of David in the Psalms. When pain is in our lives we want God to look away from us if He will not remove the source of the pain and here the source of Job’s pain is his very existence. There are many similarities and parallels to Psalm 139 with this passage and indeed the entire book of Job, with a striking difference, here there is no resolution into the realization that God’s attention to us is a comforting thing. Job cannot see any good from God’s attention to him. If this is the result of sin, why can God not simply pardon his sin? In my ministry I have heard this very thought expressed and I too have struggled in this same way. Pain is absolutely God’s megaphone into our lives.
Jesus stays out of Jerusalem and its environs as His time has not yet come. There is already a faction that wants to destroy Him and yet there remains work to be done prior to that hour. His family prods Jesus to go to Jerusalem for the feast of booths, a time of remembrance of the years in the wilderness, to recall God’s provision, that prosperity is not the only time when God was present to the nation. Most of the festivals recall God’s mighty actions while the feast of booths is a reminder that sometimes God is with us even when we have just enough, the daily bread of the wilderness and the makeshift, temporary dwellings of the years in the wilderness. Jesus eventually goes up to Jerusalem but quietly and in secret rather than as on Palm Sunday, and He and the disciples hear the buzz about Him, both good and bad.
Cornelius is a man who fears God but has not taken the step of becoming a Jew. Perhaps that would have cost him his position in the army, as the leader of a hundred men? He was a man of character and generosity and here his prayers to God are answered for one who will come and reveal God to him. He sends slaves and a fellow God-fearer from among his soldiers to fetch this Simon, he is careful about who knows what he is doing. Peter is hungry and is waiting on his food when he gets the vision of the sheet coming down from heaven and the command to go and kill and eat. The message is two-fold, God is declaring all food clean but also preparing Peter for the men who are about to come and find him to a place where his understanding of the work of Jesus will be enlarged beyond his wildest imagination.
Deal bountifully with your servant,
so that I may live and observe your word.
Open my eyes, so that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
24 August 2010
Psalm 5, 6; Job 6:1-4,8-15,21; Acts 9:32-43; John 6:60-71
Job’s desire to see his life ended has not abated. He has nothing to live for, he has no resources left and no hope for the future. The only thing that would please him would be to die, if he knew that were where things were headed he could exult in the pain. His one hope is that God will crush him and end it all. He can proclaim that he has not denied the word of the Lord in all this suffering in spite of his friends’ words. Job has some words for his friends, however. They are not friends at all. They have not helped in any way, they have increased his pain.
The “disciples” in the first verse of this passage are contrasted with the twelve of verse 67, they are not the same group. These other disciples complain about Jesus’ claims here and their complaint relates to the effect it is having on them and others, that it is something they cannot receive and believe. Jesus is unconcerned with their complaints, trusting in the sovereignty of the Father, that only those granted by the Father will come and believe. His only real concern is with the twelve, will they leave on account of this claim? Peter, bless him, has the ready answer, having been with you, heard your teaching and seen your works, where else would we go?
Peter was doing the works that Jesus had done, healing in the name of Jesus and raising Tabitha from the dead. In both these particular stories we see close parallels to the works Jesus had done. In Aeneas the parallel is to the man at the pool at Bethesda in John 5 and the story of the raising of Tabitha closely resembles the raising of Jairus’ daughter. Jesus said the disciples would indeed do the same things He had done and Peter somehow knew that the power of the Spirit flowing through him was capable of doing what his Lord had done. Do we recognize that this power has been given to us believers today as well? The early church grew and people came to believe through both the words and deeds of the apostles. Why is the church not growing in the west today?
Give ear to my words, O Lord;
give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.
Psalm 5, 6; Job 6:1-4,8-15,21; Acts 9:32-43; John 6:60-71
Job’s desire to see his life ended has not abated. He has nothing to live for, he has no resources left and no hope for the future. The only thing that would please him would be to die, if he knew that were where things were headed he could exult in the pain. His one hope is that God will crush him and end it all. He can proclaim that he has not denied the word of the Lord in all this suffering in spite of his friends’ words. Job has some words for his friends, however. They are not friends at all. They have not helped in any way, they have increased his pain.
The “disciples” in the first verse of this passage are contrasted with the twelve of verse 67, they are not the same group. These other disciples complain about Jesus’ claims here and their complaint relates to the effect it is having on them and others, that it is something they cannot receive and believe. Jesus is unconcerned with their complaints, trusting in the sovereignty of the Father, that only those granted by the Father will come and believe. His only real concern is with the twelve, will they leave on account of this claim? Peter, bless him, has the ready answer, having been with you, heard your teaching and seen your works, where else would we go?
Peter was doing the works that Jesus had done, healing in the name of Jesus and raising Tabitha from the dead. In both these particular stories we see close parallels to the works Jesus had done. In Aeneas the parallel is to the man at the pool at Bethesda in John 5 and the story of the raising of Tabitha closely resembles the raising of Jairus’ daughter. Jesus said the disciples would indeed do the same things He had done and Peter somehow knew that the power of the Spirit flowing through him was capable of doing what his Lord had done. Do we recognize that this power has been given to us believers today as well? The early church grew and people came to believe through both the words and deeds of the apostles. Why is the church not growing in the west today?
Give ear to my words, O Lord;
give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.
Monday, August 23, 2010
23 August 2010
Psalm 1, 2, 3; Job 4:1,5:1-11,17-21,26-27; Acts 9:19b-31; John 6:52-59
Does Eliphaz understand what all has happened to Job? If all this is punishment for sin, Job’s sins must be more hideous than anyone could imagine. If this is the explanation, Eliphaz shouldn’t be here lecturing and hectoring Job about his sins, he should be repenting in dust and ashes for what he himself has surely done. There is nothing comforting about his words, to Job, searching for the answer to “why” they must have seemed completely ridiculous. His explanation is that surely Job must have sinned whether he admits and understands it or not. God’s righteousness demands that sin be punished. Eliphaz’ theology is not wrong, it is not the right medicine for Job’s situation and that is the real problem. It doesn’t explain the situation Job is experiencing and we know it and Job knows it and it doesn’t help Job understand or move forward with God. At the end of things, theology isn’t simply a de-personalized discipline, it has real life consequences for us. Understanding God helps us to understand life and while the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the next step is to realize that we are important to Him and made for relationship with Him.
There are enough cues here that Jesus isn’t speaking literally that they should have no problem understanding the metaphor. Isaiah 55 is clearly the reference and no one would have had any trouble understanding what it means to buy bread, wine and milk without money and without price. Why are they failing to understand Jesus here? They wanted Him to provide food and they, like Nicodemus, do not understand earthly things therefore they cannot hope to understand spiritual things. They are too fixed on their temporal desires to reach out and take the eternal things Jesus offers. He is offering to fulfill their deepest longings and desires but they are out of touch with what those are. They have not learned to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6.33).
What everyone knows of Paul concerns them. They aren’t prepared to accept that he has been transformed. It takes some time for him to settle into the mix. Once he does, he begins to argue powerfully and to preach the Lord Jesus and to stir things up. Wherever he goes the opposition wants to kill him, just as he had previously desired to destroy the church. Here also we first meet Barnabas, the encourager, who comes alongside Paul and vouches for him to the church in Jerusalem. At this same time Paul’s life is in peril and he is going through difficulties, the church is enjoying peace and growing daily. Paul is an extraordinary man and his work for the church is something to behold. It was never easy, his life was regularly in danger, and yet he never gave up and never backed down because He knew the power of forgiveness and grace. He knew that the here and now was as nothing as compared to the glory of eternity.
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
Psalm 1, 2, 3; Job 4:1,5:1-11,17-21,26-27; Acts 9:19b-31; John 6:52-59
Does Eliphaz understand what all has happened to Job? If all this is punishment for sin, Job’s sins must be more hideous than anyone could imagine. If this is the explanation, Eliphaz shouldn’t be here lecturing and hectoring Job about his sins, he should be repenting in dust and ashes for what he himself has surely done. There is nothing comforting about his words, to Job, searching for the answer to “why” they must have seemed completely ridiculous. His explanation is that surely Job must have sinned whether he admits and understands it or not. God’s righteousness demands that sin be punished. Eliphaz’ theology is not wrong, it is not the right medicine for Job’s situation and that is the real problem. It doesn’t explain the situation Job is experiencing and we know it and Job knows it and it doesn’t help Job understand or move forward with God. At the end of things, theology isn’t simply a de-personalized discipline, it has real life consequences for us. Understanding God helps us to understand life and while the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the next step is to realize that we are important to Him and made for relationship with Him.
There are enough cues here that Jesus isn’t speaking literally that they should have no problem understanding the metaphor. Isaiah 55 is clearly the reference and no one would have had any trouble understanding what it means to buy bread, wine and milk without money and without price. Why are they failing to understand Jesus here? They wanted Him to provide food and they, like Nicodemus, do not understand earthly things therefore they cannot hope to understand spiritual things. They are too fixed on their temporal desires to reach out and take the eternal things Jesus offers. He is offering to fulfill their deepest longings and desires but they are out of touch with what those are. They have not learned to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6.33).
What everyone knows of Paul concerns them. They aren’t prepared to accept that he has been transformed. It takes some time for him to settle into the mix. Once he does, he begins to argue powerfully and to preach the Lord Jesus and to stir things up. Wherever he goes the opposition wants to kill him, just as he had previously desired to destroy the church. Here also we first meet Barnabas, the encourager, who comes alongside Paul and vouches for him to the church in Jerusalem. At this same time Paul’s life is in peril and he is going through difficulties, the church is enjoying peace and growing daily. Paul is an extraordinary man and his work for the church is something to behold. It was never easy, his life was regularly in danger, and yet he never gave up and never backed down because He knew the power of forgiveness and grace. He knew that the here and now was as nothing as compared to the glory of eternity.
Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
22 August 2010
Psalm 146, 147; Job 4:1-6,12-21; Rev. 4:1-11; Mark 6:1-6a
Eliphaz speaks first and upbraids Job for his words. He is certainly right in what he says but wrong in both intent and in friendship. Job cannot maintain his own righteousness in front of God, no one is truly righteous as God is righteous. It is wrong for Job to have prayed as he did, but he spoke in honesty of heart and he complained to God and not to his friends about God. He didn’t murmur, he went straight to God with his complaint, his friends just happened to be there. In the truth that Eliphaz stresses, the righteousness of God, he pushes too far and too hard on transcendence, that God is so far removed from all else that we don’t matter to God (vv 18-21). Job’s prayer clearly is addressed to a God who cares, not a God who is unmoved and uncaring. Eliphaz speaks of a God who only cares about righteousness, not His creation.
The people see Jesus do amazing things and then they remember, “Wait, we know this guy, we know his whole family, he can’t be all that.” The familiarity of what they know overcomes the reality of what they see, Jesus doing things no one has ever done. The logical conclusion becomes too much to imagine so they fall back to the default of judging by his background. The claims Jesus made, that he and the Father were one, were too much for them. How could God come among them and how could this man, so human, be one with God? No one could imagine the presence of God among them so they rejected that possibility in favor of a safer conclusion, one that put Jesus back in His place as the son of Joseph and Mary and brother of the ones they name.
John sees the worship of heaven, God seated on His throne and all of heaven participating in ascribing the glory and honor due to Him. What a sight this must have been in the flesh for John! Do we even begin to understand the worthiness of God? Do we understand that our worship is not simply for the transcendent holiness of God, not simply for His awe inspiring qualities and deeds like speaking the world into being, but also for His coming among us and dwelling among His creation in the person of Jesus? Here, John sees one seated on the throne, not light inescapable but one among His created order and their spontaneous reaction to His presence is to worship in praise and song. Is that our reaction to the presence of God as promised in our gathering?
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
Psalm 146, 147; Job 4:1-6,12-21; Rev. 4:1-11; Mark 6:1-6a
Eliphaz speaks first and upbraids Job for his words. He is certainly right in what he says but wrong in both intent and in friendship. Job cannot maintain his own righteousness in front of God, no one is truly righteous as God is righteous. It is wrong for Job to have prayed as he did, but he spoke in honesty of heart and he complained to God and not to his friends about God. He didn’t murmur, he went straight to God with his complaint, his friends just happened to be there. In the truth that Eliphaz stresses, the righteousness of God, he pushes too far and too hard on transcendence, that God is so far removed from all else that we don’t matter to God (vv 18-21). Job’s prayer clearly is addressed to a God who cares, not a God who is unmoved and uncaring. Eliphaz speaks of a God who only cares about righteousness, not His creation.
The people see Jesus do amazing things and then they remember, “Wait, we know this guy, we know his whole family, he can’t be all that.” The familiarity of what they know overcomes the reality of what they see, Jesus doing things no one has ever done. The logical conclusion becomes too much to imagine so they fall back to the default of judging by his background. The claims Jesus made, that he and the Father were one, were too much for them. How could God come among them and how could this man, so human, be one with God? No one could imagine the presence of God among them so they rejected that possibility in favor of a safer conclusion, one that put Jesus back in His place as the son of Joseph and Mary and brother of the ones they name.
John sees the worship of heaven, God seated on His throne and all of heaven participating in ascribing the glory and honor due to Him. What a sight this must have been in the flesh for John! Do we even begin to understand the worthiness of God? Do we understand that our worship is not simply for the transcendent holiness of God, not simply for His awe inspiring qualities and deeds like speaking the world into being, but also for His coming among us and dwelling among His creation in the person of Jesus? Here, John sees one seated on the throne, not light inescapable but one among His created order and their spontaneous reaction to His presence is to worship in praise and song. Is that our reaction to the presence of God as promised in our gathering?
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
21 August 2010
Psalm 137, 144; Job 3:1-26; Acts 9:10-19a; John 6:41-51
It is easy to see why Job would pray in this way, that he had never been born. In this prayer, however, we see that Satan’s accusation against Job, that he loved God because God had prospered him, perhaps, has some validity. What Job experienced in the loss of everything and everyone that was important to him is truly unimaginable and to add the physical suffering on top of that would bring any man to this prayer, but I John 4 tells the truth about us, we love God because He first loved us. Job’s cry here comes after seven days of sitting silently among his friends and this is the cry of anguish, a cry birthed in his heart and now, finally, expressed on the lips. It is the cry of George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life, I wish my life had never been if it is nothing more than pain to me and all those around me. We need to believe our lives have a positive momentum and purpose to them in order to have hope and to see a reason to exist, and Job has lost everything that had given his life that purpose and meaning so why continue?
They cannot believe Jesus or accept his offer because they believe they know his mother and father. Their logical inference is that since they know his origins he cannot be who He claims to be. They have seen remarkable things, just offered Him a chance to prove Himself by providing more food as He had done the day before, but now that He won’t do their bidding they have second thoughts about Him. There is no new evidence for them to make this judgment, simply His failure to do what they asked and His new claim to be the bread of life. Jesus could easily have provided more food in order to win them back but he won’t do it. They have come to the point of decision and they must make that decision based on the available evidence if they are to move forward with Him. It always comes down to faith in this life and it always has. Do we believe God in the moment? If we believe and move on in faith, more will be revealed to us. Our faith must be tested if we are to receive more of Him.
Ananais has to take a step of faith, moving forward with God based on the Lord’s word to him. Like the Jews in the Gospel lesson, Ananais knows something and that “knowledge” causes him to doubt God. Unlike those others, Ananais is willing to believe God over and against what he knows and to go where God has sent him even though it may mean persecution and death if it is wrong. His first word to Saul is amazing, “brother.” What balm those few words he spoke before he laid hands on him must have been to Saul’s heart and soul, forgiveness and restoration. He had lost everything of his past, he could not go back to his old life, and therefore he accepted baptism for forgiveness of sins and the beginning of a new life. As he will say on numerous occasions, all that came before, from birth to circumcision to his training to his work, no longer mattered, it seemed like filthy rags, he had a new purpose and meaning to his life.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty,
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
Psalm 137, 144; Job 3:1-26; Acts 9:10-19a; John 6:41-51
It is easy to see why Job would pray in this way, that he had never been born. In this prayer, however, we see that Satan’s accusation against Job, that he loved God because God had prospered him, perhaps, has some validity. What Job experienced in the loss of everything and everyone that was important to him is truly unimaginable and to add the physical suffering on top of that would bring any man to this prayer, but I John 4 tells the truth about us, we love God because He first loved us. Job’s cry here comes after seven days of sitting silently among his friends and this is the cry of anguish, a cry birthed in his heart and now, finally, expressed on the lips. It is the cry of George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life, I wish my life had never been if it is nothing more than pain to me and all those around me. We need to believe our lives have a positive momentum and purpose to them in order to have hope and to see a reason to exist, and Job has lost everything that had given his life that purpose and meaning so why continue?
They cannot believe Jesus or accept his offer because they believe they know his mother and father. Their logical inference is that since they know his origins he cannot be who He claims to be. They have seen remarkable things, just offered Him a chance to prove Himself by providing more food as He had done the day before, but now that He won’t do their bidding they have second thoughts about Him. There is no new evidence for them to make this judgment, simply His failure to do what they asked and His new claim to be the bread of life. Jesus could easily have provided more food in order to win them back but he won’t do it. They have come to the point of decision and they must make that decision based on the available evidence if they are to move forward with Him. It always comes down to faith in this life and it always has. Do we believe God in the moment? If we believe and move on in faith, more will be revealed to us. Our faith must be tested if we are to receive more of Him.
Ananais has to take a step of faith, moving forward with God based on the Lord’s word to him. Like the Jews in the Gospel lesson, Ananais knows something and that “knowledge” causes him to doubt God. Unlike those others, Ananais is willing to believe God over and against what he knows and to go where God has sent him even though it may mean persecution and death if it is wrong. His first word to Saul is amazing, “brother.” What balm those few words he spoke before he laid hands on him must have been to Saul’s heart and soul, forgiveness and restoration. He had lost everything of his past, he could not go back to his old life, and therefore he accepted baptism for forgiveness of sins and the beginning of a new life. As he will say on numerous occasions, all that came before, from birth to circumcision to his training to his work, no longer mattered, it seemed like filthy rags, he had a new purpose and meaning to his life.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honour and majesty,
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
Friday, August 20, 2010
20 August 2010
Psalm 140, 142; Job 2:1-13; Acts 9:1-9; John 6:27-40
Verse ten says that in all these things Job did not sin “with his lips.” Does that imply that his thoughts weren’t quite as pure? It seems strange that Job’s wife is not included in the deaths of the remainder of his family, only his children. John Chrysostom (4th century Archbishop of Constantinople) opined that she was spared so that Satan could use her to further torment and goad Job to curse God here. Job’s reply probably did little to enhance his marriage, calling her a “foolish woman.” This man, sitting in emotional and now physical agony, surely did not need her to add to his mental anguish. It seems that Job is going to get some comfort and sympathy when his friends hear of his situation and come to be with him, at least they have the good sense to know that they have nothing to say to Job when they arrive. Sometimes the greatest comfort we have to offer is our presence. There are times when words add nothing.
It seems we have an innate desire to do something about our situation. The people ask, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Surely what He really wants is for us to do something but Jesus says that what God wants us to do is believe in the one He has sent. This exchange is very similar to the conversation with the Samaritan woman except instead of water Jesus offers bread. They express their desire in the same words she used, “Give us this bread always.” His offer is the bread provided from heaven, Himself. His words are clear concerning who He is and what His identity and mission are, just as they were with the woman.
Saul knew how to sit and wait. When he met Jesus on the road and was taken to Damascus we see him wait upon the Lord there, fasting. At that time all he knew was that he had grievously sinned against God in persecuting the church. The words spoken to him could not have been more painful to hear. He thought he had been doing the work of God, protecting and defending God’s honor which was impugned by these who were worshipping the man crucified by the leaders, this Jesus. In the moment his question of “Who are you?” was answered with the words, “I am Jesus”, Paul was guilty of the worst sin imaginable. As he waited on the Lord, what was going through his mind? Did he lose all hope, was he awaiting God’s punishment and judgment or God’s forgiveness? It is easy to understand why he neither ate nor drank, how awful those days must have been for him spiritually and emotionally, waiting on the next words from God. Like Jonah, he had three days to wait for God’s decision on his life and judgment on his sin.
With my voice I cry to the Lord;
with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit is faint,
you know my way.
Psalm 140, 142; Job 2:1-13; Acts 9:1-9; John 6:27-40
Verse ten says that in all these things Job did not sin “with his lips.” Does that imply that his thoughts weren’t quite as pure? It seems strange that Job’s wife is not included in the deaths of the remainder of his family, only his children. John Chrysostom (4th century Archbishop of Constantinople) opined that she was spared so that Satan could use her to further torment and goad Job to curse God here. Job’s reply probably did little to enhance his marriage, calling her a “foolish woman.” This man, sitting in emotional and now physical agony, surely did not need her to add to his mental anguish. It seems that Job is going to get some comfort and sympathy when his friends hear of his situation and come to be with him, at least they have the good sense to know that they have nothing to say to Job when they arrive. Sometimes the greatest comfort we have to offer is our presence. There are times when words add nothing.
It seems we have an innate desire to do something about our situation. The people ask, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Surely what He really wants is for us to do something but Jesus says that what God wants us to do is believe in the one He has sent. This exchange is very similar to the conversation with the Samaritan woman except instead of water Jesus offers bread. They express their desire in the same words she used, “Give us this bread always.” His offer is the bread provided from heaven, Himself. His words are clear concerning who He is and what His identity and mission are, just as they were with the woman.
Saul knew how to sit and wait. When he met Jesus on the road and was taken to Damascus we see him wait upon the Lord there, fasting. At that time all he knew was that he had grievously sinned against God in persecuting the church. The words spoken to him could not have been more painful to hear. He thought he had been doing the work of God, protecting and defending God’s honor which was impugned by these who were worshipping the man crucified by the leaders, this Jesus. In the moment his question of “Who are you?” was answered with the words, “I am Jesus”, Paul was guilty of the worst sin imaginable. As he waited on the Lord, what was going through his mind? Did he lose all hope, was he awaiting God’s punishment and judgment or God’s forgiveness? It is easy to understand why he neither ate nor drank, how awful those days must have been for him spiritually and emotionally, waiting on the next words from God. Like Jonah, he had three days to wait for God’s decision on his life and judgment on his sin.
With my voice I cry to the Lord;
with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit is faint,
you know my way.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
19 August 2010
Psalm 131, 132; Job 1:1-22; Acts 8:26-40; John 6:16-27
The author tells us that Job is blameless and upright and then we hear from God that he is indeed blameless and upright. We know from the start that none of what happens to Job is a punishment for sin or a result of sin in his life. In our day we are told that such blessing of prosperity that Job enjoyed would surely be a sign of God’s favor for his righteousness or simply for his faith but what explanation would it give for his suffering? He deals with the loss of his possessions, his servants, and his children with such aplomb and righteousness in thought and word that we can hardly imagine it. This man knows the truth, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Everything we have comes from God and we can know that and rejoice in it when times are good but what do we say, pray and at least partially believe when we lose those things?
For the second day in a row people ask the wrong question. The people know that there was only one boat and Jesus had gotten into it to cross the lake but they didn’t ask “how” He crossed but “when.” We know the inside story on the crossing, he walked on the water most of the way in the midst of the storm, but they ask Him the wrong question so they never learn the truth, only the disciples know how He has gotten there. Sadly, Jesus knows that what Satan has said of Job’s faith in God is true, that Job believed because God provided for him. These have not come because they believed the signs, they have come because He has provided food to eat at no cost. His offer to them, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life…” is from Isaiah 55.1-2.
Philip’s work in Samaria is done and for his obedience God continues to use him, this time in a miraculous way. The Ethiopian eunuch is a seeker, he is reading the scriptures and has a question but until Philip miraculously shows up next to the chariot he has no one to ask. The Lord provided for this eunuch who was seeking to know Messiah promised by Isaiah. Interestingly, one of the groups who are promised an inheritance by God at the coming of Messiah are those eunuchs who have remained steadfast (Isaiah 56). Clearly Isaiah’s prophetic words are fulfilled here in this remarkable encounter. He cannot come into the covenant of Israel due to his physical deformity but he can enter the new covenant through baptism and now he has a family of his own, the family of the church.
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvellous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.
Psalm 131, 132; Job 1:1-22; Acts 8:26-40; John 6:16-27
The author tells us that Job is blameless and upright and then we hear from God that he is indeed blameless and upright. We know from the start that none of what happens to Job is a punishment for sin or a result of sin in his life. In our day we are told that such blessing of prosperity that Job enjoyed would surely be a sign of God’s favor for his righteousness or simply for his faith but what explanation would it give for his suffering? He deals with the loss of his possessions, his servants, and his children with such aplomb and righteousness in thought and word that we can hardly imagine it. This man knows the truth, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Everything we have comes from God and we can know that and rejoice in it when times are good but what do we say, pray and at least partially believe when we lose those things?
For the second day in a row people ask the wrong question. The people know that there was only one boat and Jesus had gotten into it to cross the lake but they didn’t ask “how” He crossed but “when.” We know the inside story on the crossing, he walked on the water most of the way in the midst of the storm, but they ask Him the wrong question so they never learn the truth, only the disciples know how He has gotten there. Sadly, Jesus knows that what Satan has said of Job’s faith in God is true, that Job believed because God provided for him. These have not come because they believed the signs, they have come because He has provided food to eat at no cost. His offer to them, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life…” is from Isaiah 55.1-2.
Philip’s work in Samaria is done and for his obedience God continues to use him, this time in a miraculous way. The Ethiopian eunuch is a seeker, he is reading the scriptures and has a question but until Philip miraculously shows up next to the chariot he has no one to ask. The Lord provided for this eunuch who was seeking to know Messiah promised by Isaiah. Interestingly, one of the groups who are promised an inheritance by God at the coming of Messiah are those eunuchs who have remained steadfast (Isaiah 56). Clearly Isaiah’s prophetic words are fulfilled here in this remarkable encounter. He cannot come into the covenant of Israel due to his physical deformity but he can enter the new covenant through baptism and now he has a family of his own, the family of the church.
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvellous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
18 August 2010
Psalm 119:145-176; Judges 18:16-31; Acts 8:14-25; John 6:1-15
Jacob’s prophecy concerning his son Dan and his descendants was that he would be a serpent in the way, a viper on the path (Genesis 49.17) and here we see that the Danites were a treacherous and untrustworthy people. Micah is an Ephraimite, a brother tribe, and the Danites here steal his idols and his priest. This passage speaks poorly both of the nation, which seems to be unraveling from brotherly affections, and of the state of the religious life and leadership of the nation. The “priest” of Micah is willing to abandon all for an offer to serve a greater flock and the grandson of Moses is willing to be used as a priest for this same tribe and establish a worship center there in spite of the fact that God had not authorized such a center. The nation is adrift and not moving in a good direction.
The crowds are going to Jerusalem for Passover and on the way Jesus does signs and teaches the people in such a way that His fame is spreading and people outside the city are beginning to follow Him. Here we see that the disciples, particularly Philip, lack the faith or understanding of Jesus to know Him fully. Jesus asks the question “where” and Philip gives an answer related to “how.” Clearly there is no where to buy bread but Philip is concerned with money. Seeing this sign, many believed Jesus was the prophet like Moses who was to come. Just as Moses had been able to miraculously provide food for the Israelites in a desert place, so Jesus has done for these and they are forming right judgments although they have a way to go to really know who he is. At this moment they are getting warmer in their understanding, moving towards a right understanding.
I wonder if Peter and John were thinking about that day that John recorded in the fourth chapter of his Gospel when they went to Samaria when Philip called for help. On that occasion Jesus had spoken of praying for workers for the harvest for the harvest was plentiful and the workers were few. They have spent a few months or longer seeing the harvest in Jerusalem and now they are called out to the harvest Jesus had seen that day when the whole town came out to the well and then embraced Him as Messiah. Here they see that the Samaritans too can receive the Holy Spirit. These people were originally part of the nation but got separated early on, claiming to be the true Israel and possessing only the books of Moses (Genesis-Deuteronomy). It seems, therefore, fitting that they would be the first group outside Jerusalem to come back to the true fold of God, those who accept Jesus.
I will hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
Psalm 119:145-176; Judges 18:16-31; Acts 8:14-25; John 6:1-15
Jacob’s prophecy concerning his son Dan and his descendants was that he would be a serpent in the way, a viper on the path (Genesis 49.17) and here we see that the Danites were a treacherous and untrustworthy people. Micah is an Ephraimite, a brother tribe, and the Danites here steal his idols and his priest. This passage speaks poorly both of the nation, which seems to be unraveling from brotherly affections, and of the state of the religious life and leadership of the nation. The “priest” of Micah is willing to abandon all for an offer to serve a greater flock and the grandson of Moses is willing to be used as a priest for this same tribe and establish a worship center there in spite of the fact that God had not authorized such a center. The nation is adrift and not moving in a good direction.
The crowds are going to Jerusalem for Passover and on the way Jesus does signs and teaches the people in such a way that His fame is spreading and people outside the city are beginning to follow Him. Here we see that the disciples, particularly Philip, lack the faith or understanding of Jesus to know Him fully. Jesus asks the question “where” and Philip gives an answer related to “how.” Clearly there is no where to buy bread but Philip is concerned with money. Seeing this sign, many believed Jesus was the prophet like Moses who was to come. Just as Moses had been able to miraculously provide food for the Israelites in a desert place, so Jesus has done for these and they are forming right judgments although they have a way to go to really know who he is. At this moment they are getting warmer in their understanding, moving towards a right understanding.
I wonder if Peter and John were thinking about that day that John recorded in the fourth chapter of his Gospel when they went to Samaria when Philip called for help. On that occasion Jesus had spoken of praying for workers for the harvest for the harvest was plentiful and the workers were few. They have spent a few months or longer seeing the harvest in Jerusalem and now they are called out to the harvest Jesus had seen that day when the whole town came out to the well and then embraced Him as Messiah. Here they see that the Samaritans too can receive the Holy Spirit. These people were originally part of the nation but got separated early on, claiming to be the true Israel and possessing only the books of Moses (Genesis-Deuteronomy). It seems, therefore, fitting that they would be the first group outside Jerusalem to come back to the true fold of God, those who accept Jesus.
I will hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
17 August 2010
Psalm 121, 122, 123; Judges 18:1-15; Acts 8:1-13; John 5:30-47
The Danites were prevented from occupying their inherited portion of the land by the Amorites. Their position was tenuous as they were between the Amorites and the Philistines and they sought out another place where they could live securely. They first came upon this “Levite priest” (a contradiction in terms as Levites were not of the line of Aaron, the only line who qualified as priests) on their way to spy out the land and he assured them that they would be successful. They found the people of Laish occupying a very advantageous land, so secure that they had no defense structure built for their own protection. They were protected by mountains and had also an excellent water source. They would surely be easy pickings and the Danites made their way back to take the land. On the way, the spies had an “aha” moment, remembering that there were priestly vestments and a would-be priest set up nearby. Everybody ought to have their own clergy person for good luck or God’s blessing, right?
Jesus says that they have enough witness to know who He is and to form right judgments about Him but they are unwilling to do so. John has testified of Him as has Moses and the Scriptures but they refuse to see as these reveal. He does not rely on those testimonies for and about Himself, He has the testimony of the Father to assure Him. They have become accustomed to the way things are and the way things are done and those ways are working for them at a level that provides security and comfort, never mind the Romans. Jesus has come to offer so much more but they are satisfied with the way things are and they are satisfied with their own righteousness and their satisfaction precludes their seeking after more. Like the Danites, they are willing to settle for any old priest when the real high priest is here in their midst.
For the first time the apostles take their mission on the road, but not willingly. Persecution forced them out of Jerusalem. They were supposed to remain there until they were clothed with the Holy Spirit (power from on high) and then they were to go into the world, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. They had settled in Jerusalem and it was only in this persecution that they were scattered. Surprisingly the first apostolic missionary success was not through an apostle but through a deacon, Philip, who went to Samaria and proclaimed the Word through word and the power of the Holy Spirit working through him as it had worked through Jesus, healing people and delivering them from demons. The power working through Philip was greater than the power working through the magician of the area and it was sufficient to convert this man as well. In our day there are many counterfeits posing as healers and the church seems to give short-shrift to healing. Do we neglect to minister in the full counsel and power of God and thereby fail to be as effective as we ought to be?
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.
Psalm 121, 122, 123; Judges 18:1-15; Acts 8:1-13; John 5:30-47
The Danites were prevented from occupying their inherited portion of the land by the Amorites. Their position was tenuous as they were between the Amorites and the Philistines and they sought out another place where they could live securely. They first came upon this “Levite priest” (a contradiction in terms as Levites were not of the line of Aaron, the only line who qualified as priests) on their way to spy out the land and he assured them that they would be successful. They found the people of Laish occupying a very advantageous land, so secure that they had no defense structure built for their own protection. They were protected by mountains and had also an excellent water source. They would surely be easy pickings and the Danites made their way back to take the land. On the way, the spies had an “aha” moment, remembering that there were priestly vestments and a would-be priest set up nearby. Everybody ought to have their own clergy person for good luck or God’s blessing, right?
Jesus says that they have enough witness to know who He is and to form right judgments about Him but they are unwilling to do so. John has testified of Him as has Moses and the Scriptures but they refuse to see as these reveal. He does not rely on those testimonies for and about Himself, He has the testimony of the Father to assure Him. They have become accustomed to the way things are and the way things are done and those ways are working for them at a level that provides security and comfort, never mind the Romans. Jesus has come to offer so much more but they are satisfied with the way things are and they are satisfied with their own righteousness and their satisfaction precludes their seeking after more. Like the Danites, they are willing to settle for any old priest when the real high priest is here in their midst.
For the first time the apostles take their mission on the road, but not willingly. Persecution forced them out of Jerusalem. They were supposed to remain there until they were clothed with the Holy Spirit (power from on high) and then they were to go into the world, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. They had settled in Jerusalem and it was only in this persecution that they were scattered. Surprisingly the first apostolic missionary success was not through an apostle but through a deacon, Philip, who went to Samaria and proclaimed the Word through word and the power of the Holy Spirit working through him as it had worked through Jesus, healing people and delivering them from demons. The power working through Philip was greater than the power working through the magician of the area and it was sufficient to convert this man as well. In our day there are many counterfeits posing as healers and the church seems to give short-shrift to healing. Do we neglect to minister in the full counsel and power of God and thereby fail to be as effective as we ought to be?
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.
Monday, August 16, 2010
16 August 2010
Psalm 106:1-18; Judges 17:1-13; Acts 7:44-8:1a; John 5:19-29
This man, Micah, has stolen from his mother and in thanksgiving for the return of her silver she decides to have an idol made of the silver. Micah sets up the idol in his house, makes his son a priest to the idol, takes the “trappings” of the Jewish religion, an ephod and teraphim, and becomes a spiritual person, worshipping an idol. A levite who has left Bethlehem looking for a place to live (why?) comes along and Micah is now truly thankful because he convinces this man to become his priest, a real man of God. Have you ever seen a mixture of superstition and religion like this? It happens all the time in our world, we take a bit of this, a bit of that, sanctify it by adding a bit of real religion, and, voila, we declare ourselves to be spiritual. It happens sometimes in the church if we aren’t careful. Look again at the last line of the passage and see if you can see where it is powerfully infecting the church today.
Is Jesus speaking of two different ways to life here, faith and works? No. in the first paragraph he speaks of having faith in the Son and honoring the Son, believing in the Son is tantamount to believing in the one who has sent Him and this belief will result in eternal life, not just later but those who believe have already passed into that life. In the second paragraph, Jesus says that those “who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” Belief in the Son of God, Jesus, should lead to being filled with the Holy Spirit, which should cause us to live as He lived, doing the will of the Father. Just as He did what He saw the Father doing, so we should be doing those things Jesus did. Faith and works are inextricably tied to one another if we truly believe.
When Stephen’s sermon turns is the final piece of history that God does not dwell in houses made with human hands. They know this to be true but it sounds like Jesus’ comments about tearing down the temple and then to follow with the “stiff-necked people” statement had to have shocked his hearers. That particular appellation was used by God in the episode of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32) when the Lord said to Moses that He would no longer accompany the people. Stephen quickly moves from that to accusing them of being the betrayers and murderers of Messiah, in line with those who have come before, just as Jesus had done (Matthew 23). As he is stoned, he prays for those who are killing him just as Jesus had done from the cross. It is at this moment that we meet Saul, the man who will take up the mantle of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.
Praise the Lord!
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
Psalm 106:1-18; Judges 17:1-13; Acts 7:44-8:1a; John 5:19-29
This man, Micah, has stolen from his mother and in thanksgiving for the return of her silver she decides to have an idol made of the silver. Micah sets up the idol in his house, makes his son a priest to the idol, takes the “trappings” of the Jewish religion, an ephod and teraphim, and becomes a spiritual person, worshipping an idol. A levite who has left Bethlehem looking for a place to live (why?) comes along and Micah is now truly thankful because he convinces this man to become his priest, a real man of God. Have you ever seen a mixture of superstition and religion like this? It happens all the time in our world, we take a bit of this, a bit of that, sanctify it by adding a bit of real religion, and, voila, we declare ourselves to be spiritual. It happens sometimes in the church if we aren’t careful. Look again at the last line of the passage and see if you can see where it is powerfully infecting the church today.
Is Jesus speaking of two different ways to life here, faith and works? No. in the first paragraph he speaks of having faith in the Son and honoring the Son, believing in the Son is tantamount to believing in the one who has sent Him and this belief will result in eternal life, not just later but those who believe have already passed into that life. In the second paragraph, Jesus says that those “who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” Belief in the Son of God, Jesus, should lead to being filled with the Holy Spirit, which should cause us to live as He lived, doing the will of the Father. Just as He did what He saw the Father doing, so we should be doing those things Jesus did. Faith and works are inextricably tied to one another if we truly believe.
When Stephen’s sermon turns is the final piece of history that God does not dwell in houses made with human hands. They know this to be true but it sounds like Jesus’ comments about tearing down the temple and then to follow with the “stiff-necked people” statement had to have shocked his hearers. That particular appellation was used by God in the episode of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32) when the Lord said to Moses that He would no longer accompany the people. Stephen quickly moves from that to accusing them of being the betrayers and murderers of Messiah, in line with those who have come before, just as Jesus had done (Matthew 23). As he is stoned, he prays for those who are killing him just as Jesus had done from the cross. It is at this moment that we meet Saul, the man who will take up the mantle of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.
Praise the Lord!
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
Sunday, August 15, 2010
15 August 2010
Psalm 118; Judges 16:15-31; 2 Cor. 13:1-11; Mark 5:25-34
The end of Samson, a man of strength but not of great wisdom. How in the world he could have trusted Delilah with any secret after her previous treachery is baffling. She became a rich woman through this deceit and Samson became essentially a circus performer with no sight. It is a sad ending for this man whose birth foretold greatness. He had been given great gifts, his great strength was only of his gifts, but we see that his giftedness or cleverness was also a part of his downfall, along with his appetite for the things of the world. His real strength was in the Lord as is shown in his ending. The Lord answers his prayer for one last burst of strength and receives it so that he can avenge himself on these Philistines. He died knowing truly that his strength was not in his hair but in the Lord.
This woman not only had a physical condition that had to have been a misery to her but she also had a spiritual and community problem. She was not allowed into the temple and had to be careful about contact with other Jews. If they had contact with her then they, too, were defiled and unfit for the worship of God. Her condition would have made her a social pariah and would surely have made her wonder about why God would keep her at a distance from Him and others. Here she sees her opportunity and in faith reaches out to Jesus simply to touch his clothes in the belief that this would heal her. Jesus knows power has gone out from Him and she takes the great risk of identifying herself, knowing that her uncleanness has gone from her. She has risked defiling Him and all the others in the crowd in pursuit of her final hope for herself, but has been rewarded with healing and wholeness and finally to hear herself called daughter by the Living God.
Paul’s great concern is that the Corinthians are not living into the faith they profess. We do not know what the particular sin is that Paul is writing them to cease but what this tells us is that church discipline has a place in the body. It isn’t Paul’s desire to come among them for the purpose of dealing with sin but if that is necessary he is prepared to do so. He reminds them that Christ lives in them so they have the power to overcome sin and live according to the Spirit. In the church of Jesus Christ we should be less tolerant of sin among us and should seek to deal with it when it arises. Paul was not afraid to have someone in sin separated from the body in order to have them deal with that sin if they were unwilling to repent. Just as the woman in the Gospel lesson was outside the church while she had the issue of blood, so we should be careful about sin in the body lest we send the message that such things are acceptable and such sin infect the entire body.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118; Judges 16:15-31; 2 Cor. 13:1-11; Mark 5:25-34
The end of Samson, a man of strength but not of great wisdom. How in the world he could have trusted Delilah with any secret after her previous treachery is baffling. She became a rich woman through this deceit and Samson became essentially a circus performer with no sight. It is a sad ending for this man whose birth foretold greatness. He had been given great gifts, his great strength was only of his gifts, but we see that his giftedness or cleverness was also a part of his downfall, along with his appetite for the things of the world. His real strength was in the Lord as is shown in his ending. The Lord answers his prayer for one last burst of strength and receives it so that he can avenge himself on these Philistines. He died knowing truly that his strength was not in his hair but in the Lord.
This woman not only had a physical condition that had to have been a misery to her but she also had a spiritual and community problem. She was not allowed into the temple and had to be careful about contact with other Jews. If they had contact with her then they, too, were defiled and unfit for the worship of God. Her condition would have made her a social pariah and would surely have made her wonder about why God would keep her at a distance from Him and others. Here she sees her opportunity and in faith reaches out to Jesus simply to touch his clothes in the belief that this would heal her. Jesus knows power has gone out from Him and she takes the great risk of identifying herself, knowing that her uncleanness has gone from her. She has risked defiling Him and all the others in the crowd in pursuit of her final hope for herself, but has been rewarded with healing and wholeness and finally to hear herself called daughter by the Living God.
Paul’s great concern is that the Corinthians are not living into the faith they profess. We do not know what the particular sin is that Paul is writing them to cease but what this tells us is that church discipline has a place in the body. It isn’t Paul’s desire to come among them for the purpose of dealing with sin but if that is necessary he is prepared to do so. He reminds them that Christ lives in them so they have the power to overcome sin and live according to the Spirit. In the church of Jesus Christ we should be less tolerant of sin among us and should seek to deal with it when it arises. Paul was not afraid to have someone in sin separated from the body in order to have them deal with that sin if they were unwilling to repent. Just as the woman in the Gospel lesson was outside the church while she had the issue of blood, so we should be careful about sin in the body lest we send the message that such things are acceptable and such sin infect the entire body.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
14 August 2010
Psalm 107:33-43,108; Judges 16:1-14; Acts 7:30-43; John 5:1-18
Samson was as controlled by his fleshly desires as anyone who ever lived. He was a man of almost no self-control and this was continually a problem for him and nearly everyone he encountered. We begin this chapter with him visiting a prostitute and that became an opportunity for the men of the town, Philistines, to entrap him yet he rose earlier than anyone expected, tore out the gate posts of the city and walked off with them, amazing feats of strength. He then fell in love with yet another Philistine woman who betrayed him, this time not out of fear but of greed, the promised reward for the betrayal was somewhere around 140 pounds of silver. Their goal was to discover the secret of his strength, subdue him and harness that strength for their own purposes. In this reading we see only Samson’s playful deceptions of his wife and his lack of anger against her for attempting to use it against him. He must have been an awfully stupid man to have had these experiences and then reveal the truth to her.
A man who has been ill for 38 years is healed and he seems to be anything but grateful for the healing. When he is healed, Jesus tells him to take up his mat and walk. It is amazing that after 38 years and his own professed inability to walk or even drag himself to the pool when the water was “stirred” (believed to be a sign that the presence of God was there for healing) that he is now not only strong enough to walk but also to carry anything and walk at the same time. The problem is that carrying anything on the Sabbath, particularly a mat, is deemed to be sinful violation of the command to do no work on the Sabbath. He tells them that he is carrying the mat in obedience to a command. The Jews are witnessing a miraculous sign in this healing but their own “laws” cause them to miss the sign. Jesus’ confronts the man to tell him to sin no more lest something worse happen. Does this indicate that his particular case is one where it was punishment for sin? Incredibly, the man immediately seeks out the Jews to tell them the name of the man who healed him to deflect the blame for the sin of carrying the mat. I wonder what happened to the man?
Stephen continues his Jewish history lesson through Moses’ call to leadership and the wilderness years with a particular focus on the failure of the ancestors to follow and obey God. He is proving his bona fides as one of them and is going somewhere particular with this sermon, he is showing that these leaders are at one with those who have come before, there is a history of a failure to follow. So far, Stephen has said nothing that any of these men would not agree with completely.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,
and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 107:33-43,108; Judges 16:1-14; Acts 7:30-43; John 5:1-18
Samson was as controlled by his fleshly desires as anyone who ever lived. He was a man of almost no self-control and this was continually a problem for him and nearly everyone he encountered. We begin this chapter with him visiting a prostitute and that became an opportunity for the men of the town, Philistines, to entrap him yet he rose earlier than anyone expected, tore out the gate posts of the city and walked off with them, amazing feats of strength. He then fell in love with yet another Philistine woman who betrayed him, this time not out of fear but of greed, the promised reward for the betrayal was somewhere around 140 pounds of silver. Their goal was to discover the secret of his strength, subdue him and harness that strength for their own purposes. In this reading we see only Samson’s playful deceptions of his wife and his lack of anger against her for attempting to use it against him. He must have been an awfully stupid man to have had these experiences and then reveal the truth to her.
A man who has been ill for 38 years is healed and he seems to be anything but grateful for the healing. When he is healed, Jesus tells him to take up his mat and walk. It is amazing that after 38 years and his own professed inability to walk or even drag himself to the pool when the water was “stirred” (believed to be a sign that the presence of God was there for healing) that he is now not only strong enough to walk but also to carry anything and walk at the same time. The problem is that carrying anything on the Sabbath, particularly a mat, is deemed to be sinful violation of the command to do no work on the Sabbath. He tells them that he is carrying the mat in obedience to a command. The Jews are witnessing a miraculous sign in this healing but their own “laws” cause them to miss the sign. Jesus’ confronts the man to tell him to sin no more lest something worse happen. Does this indicate that his particular case is one where it was punishment for sin? Incredibly, the man immediately seeks out the Jews to tell them the name of the man who healed him to deflect the blame for the sin of carrying the mat. I wonder what happened to the man?
Stephen continues his Jewish history lesson through Moses’ call to leadership and the wilderness years with a particular focus on the failure of the ancestors to follow and obey God. He is proving his bona fides as one of them and is going somewhere particular with this sermon, he is showing that these leaders are at one with those who have come before, there is a history of a failure to follow. So far, Stephen has said nothing that any of these men would not agree with completely.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,
and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and let your glory be over all the earth.
Friday, August 13, 2010
13 August 2010
Psalm 102; Judges 14:20-15:20; Acts 7:17-29; John 4:43-54
This scene certainly seems mythic in proportions with the large number of foxes captured and used by Samson to destroy the crops, and therefore the economy of the Philistine city, and the number of men single-handedly felled by him. His father-in-law, apparently assuming that the marriage was annulled due to his daughter’s treachery regarding the riddle and Samson’s departure without consummating the marriage, gave her to his best man. It was anger for this act that prompted Samson to destroy their crops. The Philistines blamed, appropriately, the father and his wife, exactly what she had hoped to avoid in betraying Samson’s secret to these men in the first place! Samson’s vengeance against them caused them to come up and encamp against a town of Judah, threatening that place. The men of that town then come to Samson to blame him for their misfortune and rather than forming an army together against their enemies they seek to deliver him to them as appeasement. Samson’s bonds are broken and he routs them while the men of Judah seem to stand idly by and yet in the end they recognize their champion and he becomes judge.
Jesus spends two days among the Samaritans and must have enjoyed their hospitality during that time which would have made Him unclean in the eyes of the Jews and yet when He arrives at Galilee He is received well. They likely assumed that He came there from Jerusalem by the route that would have taken him around Samaria, which any good Jewish person would have taken. We were told the Samaritans believed, and at an extraordinary level, proclaiming that He was the Savior of the world. Here we see the Galileans, His fellow Jews, welcoming Him for what they had seen at the festival. The encounter and healing we see here is the son of a “royal official” which likely makes the man a Gentile. Jesus says that his faith is based in seeing signs but the man has already come with faith, he begged Him to come and heal his son. Jesus speaks the word that the son is healed and the man goes in faith that what was spoken will be and is astonished to discover that indeed the son has been healed at the time Jesus spoke the words and he and his household come to faith in Jesus. He has passed through three stages of faith in this one experience. He believed Jesus could possibly heal so he went to Jesus, He believed at some level that Jesus could heal with word only and began to walk in that faith. He then saw the fulfillment of the word and then believed it to be a result of Jesus’ words, not some happy chance occurrence.
Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away;
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall live secure;
their offspring shall be established in your presence.
Psalm 102; Judges 14:20-15:20; Acts 7:17-29; John 4:43-54
This scene certainly seems mythic in proportions with the large number of foxes captured and used by Samson to destroy the crops, and therefore the economy of the Philistine city, and the number of men single-handedly felled by him. His father-in-law, apparently assuming that the marriage was annulled due to his daughter’s treachery regarding the riddle and Samson’s departure without consummating the marriage, gave her to his best man. It was anger for this act that prompted Samson to destroy their crops. The Philistines blamed, appropriately, the father and his wife, exactly what she had hoped to avoid in betraying Samson’s secret to these men in the first place! Samson’s vengeance against them caused them to come up and encamp against a town of Judah, threatening that place. The men of that town then come to Samson to blame him for their misfortune and rather than forming an army together against their enemies they seek to deliver him to them as appeasement. Samson’s bonds are broken and he routs them while the men of Judah seem to stand idly by and yet in the end they recognize their champion and he becomes judge.
Jesus spends two days among the Samaritans and must have enjoyed their hospitality during that time which would have made Him unclean in the eyes of the Jews and yet when He arrives at Galilee He is received well. They likely assumed that He came there from Jerusalem by the route that would have taken him around Samaria, which any good Jewish person would have taken. We were told the Samaritans believed, and at an extraordinary level, proclaiming that He was the Savior of the world. Here we see the Galileans, His fellow Jews, welcoming Him for what they had seen at the festival. The encounter and healing we see here is the son of a “royal official” which likely makes the man a Gentile. Jesus says that his faith is based in seeing signs but the man has already come with faith, he begged Him to come and heal his son. Jesus speaks the word that the son is healed and the man goes in faith that what was spoken will be and is astonished to discover that indeed the son has been healed at the time Jesus spoke the words and he and his household come to faith in Jesus. He has passed through three stages of faith in this one experience. He believed Jesus could possibly heal so he went to Jesus, He believed at some level that Jesus could heal with word only and began to walk in that faith. He then saw the fulfillment of the word and then believed it to be a result of Jesus’ words, not some happy chance occurrence.
Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away;
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall live secure;
their offspring shall be established in your presence.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
12 August 2010
Psalm 105:1-22; Judges 14:1-19; Acts 6:15-7:16; John 4:27-42
Samson’s downfall begins here. He had lived under a Nazirite vow his entire life but now he chose a Philistine wife, a Canaanite, a pagan, those with whom the Israelites were not to intermarry lest they be enticed to follow after their gods. On the way there, at the vineyards of Timnah (did he eat the fruit of the vine here also) he kills a young lion and on the way home eats of the honey from bees who had built a hive in the carcass, breaking the Nazirite vow which includes avoiding corpses of any kind (see Numbers 6). His “riddle” at the wedding feast and his wife’s involvement with her people in order to avoid them embarrassment causes Samson’s first outburst of anger and violence on her behalf. She had become a snare to him and in order to get out of his vow to the Philistines he is forced to go 20 miles away and kill 30 men to fulfill the vow, further defiling himself in the eyes of the Lord.
Jesus has ritually defiled Himself by his contact with the Samaritan woman and when they return the disciples are amazed that He is speaking to her. The woman, meanwhile, has gone into the city and invited them all to come and see a man who is clearly an amazing prophet. I wonder what the disciples were thinking as they saw this crowd coming out to the well. They surely expected these Samaritans to be angry that this Jew had been talking with a woman from their town and wondering what in the world Jesus had said to her to cause the entire town to come out to defend her honor. Jesus sees the crowd as the harvest and anticipates what comes next, the belief of these Samaritans.
We are told that Stephen’s face was like that of an angel. The Lord had promised that when the disciples were called before the council to give testimony that He would be with them and the Spirit would speak through them. Remember that when Abraham met with the Lord and then with the people his countenance was changed and described as “shining.” Here we see that a physical manifestation was given to Stephen and yet the council does not recognize his appearance and react as all others in Scripture do when confronted with an angel, they have no fear, they are blinded by their hatred. Stephen begins his speech well, he knows his Jewish history and no one would find fault in his opening words, they are similar to the Psalm for the day, but where in the world was he headed?
O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.
Psalm 105:1-22; Judges 14:1-19; Acts 6:15-7:16; John 4:27-42
Samson’s downfall begins here. He had lived under a Nazirite vow his entire life but now he chose a Philistine wife, a Canaanite, a pagan, those with whom the Israelites were not to intermarry lest they be enticed to follow after their gods. On the way there, at the vineyards of Timnah (did he eat the fruit of the vine here also) he kills a young lion and on the way home eats of the honey from bees who had built a hive in the carcass, breaking the Nazirite vow which includes avoiding corpses of any kind (see Numbers 6). His “riddle” at the wedding feast and his wife’s involvement with her people in order to avoid them embarrassment causes Samson’s first outburst of anger and violence on her behalf. She had become a snare to him and in order to get out of his vow to the Philistines he is forced to go 20 miles away and kill 30 men to fulfill the vow, further defiling himself in the eyes of the Lord.
Jesus has ritually defiled Himself by his contact with the Samaritan woman and when they return the disciples are amazed that He is speaking to her. The woman, meanwhile, has gone into the city and invited them all to come and see a man who is clearly an amazing prophet. I wonder what the disciples were thinking as they saw this crowd coming out to the well. They surely expected these Samaritans to be angry that this Jew had been talking with a woman from their town and wondering what in the world Jesus had said to her to cause the entire town to come out to defend her honor. Jesus sees the crowd as the harvest and anticipates what comes next, the belief of these Samaritans.
We are told that Stephen’s face was like that of an angel. The Lord had promised that when the disciples were called before the council to give testimony that He would be with them and the Spirit would speak through them. Remember that when Abraham met with the Lord and then with the people his countenance was changed and described as “shining.” Here we see that a physical manifestation was given to Stephen and yet the council does not recognize his appearance and react as all others in Scripture do when confronted with an angel, they have no fear, they are blinded by their hatred. Stephen begins his speech well, he knows his Jewish history and no one would find fault in his opening words, they are similar to the Psalm for the day, but where in the world was he headed?
O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
11 August 2010
Psalm 101, 109; Judges 13:15-24; Acts 6:1-15; John 4:1-26
Manoah seems not to know that this one who has given them the word concerning the child is an angel of the Lord. The story bears similarities to Genesis when Abraham entertained the three men and also to the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel. Manoah wants to provide the proper hospitality so offers a meal but in this case, unlike the episode with Abraham, the angel will not eat but accepts the offering as a sacrifice to his lord. Manoah wants to know the name of the angel here but the only response he gets is that the name is too wonderful to speak or is beyond understanding. The word translated here as “wonderful” is the same word in Isaiah 9.6 describing Messiah as “Wonderful Counselor” among other names. As they realize who this was before them, the couple fall on their faces in worship and fear and it is again the woman who relieves the fear with words something akin to you shall not surely die but because their sacrifice had been accepted.
Jesus and His disciples arrive in a Samaritan town at mid-day, a time when no one should have been at the community well. Women went early in the day before the heat made this a more difficult journey with a heavy water pitcher or pot and it was a time for fellowship and camaraderie with other women from the town. This woman, however, comes alone in the heat of the day to get water. She engages with the man she doesn’t know who asks her for water and challenges Him as a Jew. She knows the Jews look down on Samaritans and won’t share eating or drinking vessels with them and speaks into that reality. She sets herself and her people above the Jews by speaking of “our father Jacob.” Jesus’ promise of living water breaks through her defenses and exposes her desire, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” She thinks he is speaking of magic when, in fact, He is promising something much deeper. As Jesus exposes her sinful life, she turns to religion as a way of deflecting the course of conversation yet ultimately she received the first direct revelation of Jesus, from his own lips, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” The revelation that Manoah didn’t receive is instead given to this sinful woman.
The apostles define their role in the new church as devoted to prayer and serving the word and therefore instruct the congregation to raise up other men for the work of distributing food to the widows. The qualifications were that they be men of good standing, full of the Spirit and wisdom. In Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus he gives further qualifications but those really are little more than definitions of the terms used here. One of those deacons was Stephen and here we see that the early church’s message was clear and those who heard it and saw the effect it was having in drawing people knew that it was a threat and determined to stamp it out. It wasn’t for his skill at waiting tables that Stephen was tried, it was his proclamation. Deacons, it seems, had a preaching ministry as well as the jobs for which they were originally chosen to perform.
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save them from those who would condemn them to death.
Psalm 101, 109; Judges 13:15-24; Acts 6:1-15; John 4:1-26
Manoah seems not to know that this one who has given them the word concerning the child is an angel of the Lord. The story bears similarities to Genesis when Abraham entertained the three men and also to the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel. Manoah wants to provide the proper hospitality so offers a meal but in this case, unlike the episode with Abraham, the angel will not eat but accepts the offering as a sacrifice to his lord. Manoah wants to know the name of the angel here but the only response he gets is that the name is too wonderful to speak or is beyond understanding. The word translated here as “wonderful” is the same word in Isaiah 9.6 describing Messiah as “Wonderful Counselor” among other names. As they realize who this was before them, the couple fall on their faces in worship and fear and it is again the woman who relieves the fear with words something akin to you shall not surely die but because their sacrifice had been accepted.
Jesus and His disciples arrive in a Samaritan town at mid-day, a time when no one should have been at the community well. Women went early in the day before the heat made this a more difficult journey with a heavy water pitcher or pot and it was a time for fellowship and camaraderie with other women from the town. This woman, however, comes alone in the heat of the day to get water. She engages with the man she doesn’t know who asks her for water and challenges Him as a Jew. She knows the Jews look down on Samaritans and won’t share eating or drinking vessels with them and speaks into that reality. She sets herself and her people above the Jews by speaking of “our father Jacob.” Jesus’ promise of living water breaks through her defenses and exposes her desire, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” She thinks he is speaking of magic when, in fact, He is promising something much deeper. As Jesus exposes her sinful life, she turns to religion as a way of deflecting the course of conversation yet ultimately she received the first direct revelation of Jesus, from his own lips, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” The revelation that Manoah didn’t receive is instead given to this sinful woman.
The apostles define their role in the new church as devoted to prayer and serving the word and therefore instruct the congregation to raise up other men for the work of distributing food to the widows. The qualifications were that they be men of good standing, full of the Spirit and wisdom. In Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus he gives further qualifications but those really are little more than definitions of the terms used here. One of those deacons was Stephen and here we see that the early church’s message was clear and those who heard it and saw the effect it was having in drawing people knew that it was a threat and determined to stamp it out. It wasn’t for his skill at waiting tables that Stephen was tried, it was his proclamation. Deacons, it seems, had a preaching ministry as well as the jobs for which they were originally chosen to perform.
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save them from those who would condemn them to death.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
10 August 2010
Psalm 97, 99; Judges 13:1-15; Acts 5:27-42; John 3:22-36
The angelic visitation is to the woman, not to her husband, and his words are addressed to her. There are some clear parallels to Mary’s situation in that the man is a secondary issue to the angel. This woman, known to us only as the wife of Manoah, is told that after forty years of Philistine rule, she is to bear the deliverer of Israel and she must be careful about what she eats and drinks while she carries this son. The nazirite vow extends to the womb, a clear implication about life in the eyes of God and when it begins. When she tells her husband he wants to meet this man who has promised his wife that she will have a son and God hears Manoah’s request. The angel seems uninterested in Manoah, his only statement on the issue is that the woman must be careful to obey all he has commanded her. Manoah seems to be not only confused about the events but also overwhelmed by them and desires the angel to stay a bit longer. In this patriarchal society it would certainly have been unusual for a man to have spoken with his wife, given her a prophecy that she would have a child and then told her to observe the Nazirite vow as well.
John’s disciples begin to question what is going on with Jesus. They don’t understand how one who was baptized by John is now becoming greater than John himself. John’s answer is that it is a question of origins. All through the Gospel we see debates over Jesus that focus on His presumed origin: Nazareth, a Galileean, and once is even accused of being a Samaritan, we know his father and mother, etc. John, however, sees the truth, that Jesus is from above, He is sent out from the Father in heaven. It has been John’s joy to see Jesus and to testify to Him. John was one of the most incredible men who ever lived, willing and able to be less so that Jesus could become greater.
The only thing the council seem to hear is that Peter is blaming them for the death of Jesus, “You wish to bring this man’s blood on us.” The truth is that Peter is indeed trying to bring Jesus’ blood on them, in order that they might be saved. The life of a person is in the blood, and it was the blood of the sacrifice spilled on the altar that signified the reality that the animal had given its life for the sin of the worshipper. In Jesus, it is indeed his blood, the symbol of His life poured out, that ensures that we have life. In our worship we symbolically drink the blood of Christ in the form of wine and when we do so we take in the life of Christ. The council, however, refuse to believe the message and instead punish the messengers after Gamaliel has persuaded them not to kill them and be guilty of shedding more blood.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 97, 99; Judges 13:1-15; Acts 5:27-42; John 3:22-36
The angelic visitation is to the woman, not to her husband, and his words are addressed to her. There are some clear parallels to Mary’s situation in that the man is a secondary issue to the angel. This woman, known to us only as the wife of Manoah, is told that after forty years of Philistine rule, she is to bear the deliverer of Israel and she must be careful about what she eats and drinks while she carries this son. The nazirite vow extends to the womb, a clear implication about life in the eyes of God and when it begins. When she tells her husband he wants to meet this man who has promised his wife that she will have a son and God hears Manoah’s request. The angel seems uninterested in Manoah, his only statement on the issue is that the woman must be careful to obey all he has commanded her. Manoah seems to be not only confused about the events but also overwhelmed by them and desires the angel to stay a bit longer. In this patriarchal society it would certainly have been unusual for a man to have spoken with his wife, given her a prophecy that she would have a child and then told her to observe the Nazirite vow as well.
John’s disciples begin to question what is going on with Jesus. They don’t understand how one who was baptized by John is now becoming greater than John himself. John’s answer is that it is a question of origins. All through the Gospel we see debates over Jesus that focus on His presumed origin: Nazareth, a Galileean, and once is even accused of being a Samaritan, we know his father and mother, etc. John, however, sees the truth, that Jesus is from above, He is sent out from the Father in heaven. It has been John’s joy to see Jesus and to testify to Him. John was one of the most incredible men who ever lived, willing and able to be less so that Jesus could become greater.
The only thing the council seem to hear is that Peter is blaming them for the death of Jesus, “You wish to bring this man’s blood on us.” The truth is that Peter is indeed trying to bring Jesus’ blood on them, in order that they might be saved. The life of a person is in the blood, and it was the blood of the sacrifice spilled on the altar that signified the reality that the animal had given its life for the sin of the worshipper. In Jesus, it is indeed his blood, the symbol of His life poured out, that ensures that we have life. In our worship we symbolically drink the blood of Christ in the form of wine and when we do so we take in the life of Christ. The council, however, refuse to believe the message and instead punish the messengers after Gamaliel has persuaded them not to kill them and be guilty of shedding more blood.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Monday, August 9, 2010
9 August 2010
Psalm 89:1-18; Judges 12:1-7; Acts 5:12-26; John 3:1-21
Jephthah is obliged to wage a civil war against the Ephraimites. This is the same tribe that was angry with Gideon for failing to involve them early in his campaign against Midian and had to be soothed by his words concerning their important role in the conquest. Here, Jephthah provides no assurance to them, instead criticism that they failed to respond to a plea to help. For eighteen years the Gileadites had suffered at the hands of the Ammonites and Ephraim had not lifted a finger to help their brothers and now they came to confront them. In the ensuing civil war the Ephraimites lose 42,000 men, some in response to their failure to pass an interesting test regarding their linguistic deficiency. This is a sad chapter in the history of the people of God that two brother tribes are warring against one another and destroying each other.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus to try and figure him out and leaves completely confused. He starts well, “Teacher, we know you are a teacher come from God…” Jesus immediately seizes the initiative in Nicodemus’ words and begins to speak about the kingdom of God and being born from above. It is the work of the Spirit working in a person for them to recognize truly that the works they are seeing are “of God.” Nicodemus has acknowledged that Jesus is indeed a teacher but Jesus questions whether Nicodemus can be a teacher considering he can’t understand Jesus’ words here. In this conversation Jesus first uses the reference to being lifted up. Clearly it relates to the situation with the fiery serpents sent by God in Numbers 21 due to the people’s unbelief and murmuring, but how it related to that must have truly puzzled Nicodemus. In this passage we get the wonderful Good News of the Gospel that all that believe in Jesus will have eternal life. All who believed in God that gazing upon the bronze serpent would heal them and protect them from the fiery serpents lived through that episode, all who believe in Jesus will persevere to life eternal.
God has worked a miracle of releasing the disciples from prison but we aren’t told how that happens. The police find the prison doors locked and the guards don’t seem to know how the prisoners got out. The disciples continue their ministry in the temple precincts, healing and preaching. The chief priests are jealous of their influence and favor with the people and have them arrested. It is interesting that the “leaders” of the people never seem to be among the people, they are always separate and send their police to arrest both Jesus and the disciples to bring them to the leaders for questioning apart from the people. At the same time they are jealous of the people’s affections and attention. The final verse of the reading tells the truth, they were afraid of the people, they didn’t want their love, only their respect and fear. They do their work apart and in secret. Do we love the world enough to be part of the world as Jesus did?
Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;
they exult in your name all day long,
and extol your righteousness.
For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favour our horn is exalted.
Psalm 89:1-18; Judges 12:1-7; Acts 5:12-26; John 3:1-21
Jephthah is obliged to wage a civil war against the Ephraimites. This is the same tribe that was angry with Gideon for failing to involve them early in his campaign against Midian and had to be soothed by his words concerning their important role in the conquest. Here, Jephthah provides no assurance to them, instead criticism that they failed to respond to a plea to help. For eighteen years the Gileadites had suffered at the hands of the Ammonites and Ephraim had not lifted a finger to help their brothers and now they came to confront them. In the ensuing civil war the Ephraimites lose 42,000 men, some in response to their failure to pass an interesting test regarding their linguistic deficiency. This is a sad chapter in the history of the people of God that two brother tribes are warring against one another and destroying each other.
Nicodemus comes to Jesus to try and figure him out and leaves completely confused. He starts well, “Teacher, we know you are a teacher come from God…” Jesus immediately seizes the initiative in Nicodemus’ words and begins to speak about the kingdom of God and being born from above. It is the work of the Spirit working in a person for them to recognize truly that the works they are seeing are “of God.” Nicodemus has acknowledged that Jesus is indeed a teacher but Jesus questions whether Nicodemus can be a teacher considering he can’t understand Jesus’ words here. In this conversation Jesus first uses the reference to being lifted up. Clearly it relates to the situation with the fiery serpents sent by God in Numbers 21 due to the people’s unbelief and murmuring, but how it related to that must have truly puzzled Nicodemus. In this passage we get the wonderful Good News of the Gospel that all that believe in Jesus will have eternal life. All who believed in God that gazing upon the bronze serpent would heal them and protect them from the fiery serpents lived through that episode, all who believe in Jesus will persevere to life eternal.
God has worked a miracle of releasing the disciples from prison but we aren’t told how that happens. The police find the prison doors locked and the guards don’t seem to know how the prisoners got out. The disciples continue their ministry in the temple precincts, healing and preaching. The chief priests are jealous of their influence and favor with the people and have them arrested. It is interesting that the “leaders” of the people never seem to be among the people, they are always separate and send their police to arrest both Jesus and the disciples to bring them to the leaders for questioning apart from the people. At the same time they are jealous of the people’s affections and attention. The final verse of the reading tells the truth, they were afraid of the people, they didn’t want their love, only their respect and fear. They do their work apart and in secret. Do we love the world enough to be part of the world as Jesus did?
Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;
they exult in your name all day long,
and extol your righteousness.
For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favour our horn is exalted.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
8 August 2010
Psalm 66, 67; Judges 11:1-11,29-40; 2 Cor. 11:21b-31; Mark 4:35-41
This is one of the worst incidents in the entire Bible. It begins well, the son of the prostitute, Jephthah, who was driven away by the “legitimate” children of Gilead was later recalled by the same when they were in trouble and needed a savior. Jephthah agrees on the condition that if he is successful he will be their leader. The Lord was with him and gave him success but for some reason he didn’t trust the Lord completely and made a vow that was contingent on success, “if you give them into my hands.” The good news is that they defeated their enemies, the bad news was that he was now obliged by his vow to sacrifice the first person he saw at his house, his own and only daughter. The fulfillment of the vow was more sinful than the rash vow of unbelief itself. Human sacrifice was unacceptable and unlawful. Why Jephthah would have done this is not imaginable, as it would not have pleased God in the least, he compounded his sin. What he should have done is repented of his vow and offered a sacrifice for the breaking of the vow, his daughter should not have paid the price for his sin.
This story demonstrates clearly that the Lord who spoke all things into being was also the Lord who had become flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The answer to the disciples’ question, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” is simple, the one who created them. There are parallels here between this scene and Jonah 1 when the men on the boat with Jonah have to waken him and ask him to pray to his god who might be the right one to save them. As they throw Jonah into the sea after his confession, the wind stops. The pagans there, however, ask forgiveness for throwing the man into the sea as a sacrifice, as opposed to Jephthah in our first reading.
Paul defends his ministry as over against the super apostles who have been among the Corinthians denigrating Paul’s ministry. Paul says that he is superior to these in every way and then lists all the ways in which he is greater. He does so not because he wishes to draw attention to himself but because these others have been leading the Corinthians to themselves rather than to Jesus. Paul’s argument is that in spite of all the things he lists he chooses instead to boast in his weakness, his inability to save himself, to boast in the one who has saved him. Paul was an amazing man, constantly preaching only one thing, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He voluntarily took up the cross of the churches God had allowed him to start and carried them always, no matter how painful they were to him and how easily they were led astray. He was always willing to lay down his life for the sake of the Gospel and the churches. Do we carry the burden of the Gospel for others?
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
Psalm 66, 67; Judges 11:1-11,29-40; 2 Cor. 11:21b-31; Mark 4:35-41
This is one of the worst incidents in the entire Bible. It begins well, the son of the prostitute, Jephthah, who was driven away by the “legitimate” children of Gilead was later recalled by the same when they were in trouble and needed a savior. Jephthah agrees on the condition that if he is successful he will be their leader. The Lord was with him and gave him success but for some reason he didn’t trust the Lord completely and made a vow that was contingent on success, “if you give them into my hands.” The good news is that they defeated their enemies, the bad news was that he was now obliged by his vow to sacrifice the first person he saw at his house, his own and only daughter. The fulfillment of the vow was more sinful than the rash vow of unbelief itself. Human sacrifice was unacceptable and unlawful. Why Jephthah would have done this is not imaginable, as it would not have pleased God in the least, he compounded his sin. What he should have done is repented of his vow and offered a sacrifice for the breaking of the vow, his daughter should not have paid the price for his sin.
This story demonstrates clearly that the Lord who spoke all things into being was also the Lord who had become flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The answer to the disciples’ question, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” is simple, the one who created them. There are parallels here between this scene and Jonah 1 when the men on the boat with Jonah have to waken him and ask him to pray to his god who might be the right one to save them. As they throw Jonah into the sea after his confession, the wind stops. The pagans there, however, ask forgiveness for throwing the man into the sea as a sacrifice, as opposed to Jephthah in our first reading.
Paul defends his ministry as over against the super apostles who have been among the Corinthians denigrating Paul’s ministry. Paul says that he is superior to these in every way and then lists all the ways in which he is greater. He does so not because he wishes to draw attention to himself but because these others have been leading the Corinthians to themselves rather than to Jesus. Paul’s argument is that in spite of all the things he lists he chooses instead to boast in his weakness, his inability to save himself, to boast in the one who has saved him. Paul was an amazing man, constantly preaching only one thing, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He voluntarily took up the cross of the churches God had allowed him to start and carried them always, no matter how painful they were to him and how easily they were led astray. He was always willing to lay down his life for the sake of the Gospel and the churches. Do we carry the burden of the Gospel for others?
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
7 August 2010
Psalm 87, 90; Judges 9:22-25,50-57; Acts 4:32-5:11; John 2:13-25
Shechem plays a central role in the rise and the death of Abimelech. It was the place in the land where Abraham first offered worship. It is also the city where the rape of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, occurred in Genesis 34. It is the place of the Samaritans. In yesterday’s reading we saw that the men of Shechem cooperated with Abimelech in his plot to kill his brothers and today we see that those who have acted treacherously in the past can be counted on to do so in the future. Trusting such people when it suits your ends should tell you all you need to know about them, they cannot be trusted, they are wicked. Abimelech here meets his end there and in the end of the reading we are told that the Lord also brought the curse of Jotham from yesterday’s reading on the men of Shechem.
The temple had been turned into a market place. The goods being bought and sold there were those animals needed for sacrifice and the money changers weren’t there to change currency like Forex, they were there to change money from hard currency to temple currency. All this activity of making a buck was taking advantage of the faithful who had come from afar for the Passover festival. They didn’t bring animals with them on the chance that they may not pass muster for sacrifice. These animals were pre-approved and certified and sold at a premium. The temple tax had to be paid in a specific currency so the money changers were there to provide that service for a fee. Jesus was enraged at what they had done to worship, crowding out the Gentiles from the outer courts and scamming the worshippers here for the festival. The works that Jesus did during the festival caused many to “believe in his name” and yet because He knew their hearts He would not reveal Himself fully to them. Amazingly, we will see Him reveal Himself to someone in chapter 4 of John’s Gospel after revealing that He knows her completely.
Common ownership of property is not a principle of Scripture. It was, however, one of the characteristics of the earliest church in order to provide mutual support for all the people who believed in Jesus. Their understanding of the world was shaped by the belief that this was all coming to an end soon with Jesus’ return anticipated at any moment. Does that give us a pass on the way we have our own possessions or should it be instructive on how we are to live? The world is passing away so why do we work so hard at owning a share of what is passing away? It isn’t wrong to own anything but we are called to a different way of understanding ownership and possessions. They are to be in the service of the One who has entrusted them to us. Annanais and Sapphira sinned by lying about the sale, not by keeping some of the proceeds. They pretended to have given all the money to the church when, in fact, they had kept some. Peter’s rebuke is for the lie, not the decision to keep some back.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
O give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Psalm 87, 90; Judges 9:22-25,50-57; Acts 4:32-5:11; John 2:13-25
Shechem plays a central role in the rise and the death of Abimelech. It was the place in the land where Abraham first offered worship. It is also the city where the rape of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, occurred in Genesis 34. It is the place of the Samaritans. In yesterday’s reading we saw that the men of Shechem cooperated with Abimelech in his plot to kill his brothers and today we see that those who have acted treacherously in the past can be counted on to do so in the future. Trusting such people when it suits your ends should tell you all you need to know about them, they cannot be trusted, they are wicked. Abimelech here meets his end there and in the end of the reading we are told that the Lord also brought the curse of Jotham from yesterday’s reading on the men of Shechem.
The temple had been turned into a market place. The goods being bought and sold there were those animals needed for sacrifice and the money changers weren’t there to change currency like Forex, they were there to change money from hard currency to temple currency. All this activity of making a buck was taking advantage of the faithful who had come from afar for the Passover festival. They didn’t bring animals with them on the chance that they may not pass muster for sacrifice. These animals were pre-approved and certified and sold at a premium. The temple tax had to be paid in a specific currency so the money changers were there to provide that service for a fee. Jesus was enraged at what they had done to worship, crowding out the Gentiles from the outer courts and scamming the worshippers here for the festival. The works that Jesus did during the festival caused many to “believe in his name” and yet because He knew their hearts He would not reveal Himself fully to them. Amazingly, we will see Him reveal Himself to someone in chapter 4 of John’s Gospel after revealing that He knows her completely.
Common ownership of property is not a principle of Scripture. It was, however, one of the characteristics of the earliest church in order to provide mutual support for all the people who believed in Jesus. Their understanding of the world was shaped by the belief that this was all coming to an end soon with Jesus’ return anticipated at any moment. Does that give us a pass on the way we have our own possessions or should it be instructive on how we are to live? The world is passing away so why do we work so hard at owning a share of what is passing away? It isn’t wrong to own anything but we are called to a different way of understanding ownership and possessions. They are to be in the service of the One who has entrusted them to us. Annanais and Sapphira sinned by lying about the sale, not by keeping some of the proceeds. They pretended to have given all the money to the church when, in fact, they had kept some. Peter’s rebuke is for the lie, not the decision to keep some back.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
O give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Friday, August 6, 2010
6 August 2010
Psalm 88; Judges 9:1-16,19-21; Acts 4:13-31; John 2:2-12
Gideon’s wicked son Abimelech presumed to power by buying men to do his bidding. He killed all his brothers (remember Gideon had many wives and concubines) and then declared himself king. One brother, Jotham, survived the slaughter and ascended Mt Gerizim to denounce Abimelech. Gerizim is the mountain from which blessings were spoken in Deuteronomy 27 and is considered by the Samaritans to be the holy mountain of God for that reason. Jotham knows well the fury and the violence of which Abimelech is capable and after denouncing him in this parable runs for his life.
The first sign Jesus gives is interesting. The water in the jars was not simply for washing, it was for ceremonial washing and when Jesus has the servants fill the jars He is, in essence, saying that now the time for ritual purification is complete and a new era has come, the era of rejoicing. The servants know that what they put into the jars was water and yet what they drew out was wine, the best wine served. God has indeed saved the best wine for last in Jesus. This sign was a sign only for his disciples and the servants involved, to have told this story would have brought embarrassment to the wedding party, exactly what the work was intended to avoid. Mary seems to have had an inkling that her son would do something here given her instruction to the servants even after Jesus deflects her request. The abundance of the provision of wine is also significant, this is a supply that will certainly not run out.
The only punishment given to the disciples was one they would not receive, they were forbidden to preach in the name of Jesus. The elders were limited in what they could do to the disciples as the man healed was a proof of the power of the Name. When the disciples returned to the others they all rejoiced and then prayed asking for greater boldness and even more works to be done in Jesus’ Name. This is a prayer the church should be continuing to pray night and day so that we might see great things done and the Name of Jesus lifted high in our day. We know this is a prayer the Lord will hear favorably.
O Lord, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.
Psalm 88; Judges 9:1-16,19-21; Acts 4:13-31; John 2:2-12
Gideon’s wicked son Abimelech presumed to power by buying men to do his bidding. He killed all his brothers (remember Gideon had many wives and concubines) and then declared himself king. One brother, Jotham, survived the slaughter and ascended Mt Gerizim to denounce Abimelech. Gerizim is the mountain from which blessings were spoken in Deuteronomy 27 and is considered by the Samaritans to be the holy mountain of God for that reason. Jotham knows well the fury and the violence of which Abimelech is capable and after denouncing him in this parable runs for his life.
The first sign Jesus gives is interesting. The water in the jars was not simply for washing, it was for ceremonial washing and when Jesus has the servants fill the jars He is, in essence, saying that now the time for ritual purification is complete and a new era has come, the era of rejoicing. The servants know that what they put into the jars was water and yet what they drew out was wine, the best wine served. God has indeed saved the best wine for last in Jesus. This sign was a sign only for his disciples and the servants involved, to have told this story would have brought embarrassment to the wedding party, exactly what the work was intended to avoid. Mary seems to have had an inkling that her son would do something here given her instruction to the servants even after Jesus deflects her request. The abundance of the provision of wine is also significant, this is a supply that will certainly not run out.
The only punishment given to the disciples was one they would not receive, they were forbidden to preach in the name of Jesus. The elders were limited in what they could do to the disciples as the man healed was a proof of the power of the Name. When the disciples returned to the others they all rejoiced and then prayed asking for greater boldness and even more works to be done in Jesus’ Name. This is a prayer the church should be continuing to pray night and day so that we might see great things done and the Name of Jesus lifted high in our day. We know this is a prayer the Lord will hear favorably.
O Lord, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
5 August 2010
Psalm 145; Judges 8:22-35; Acts 4:1-12; John 1:43-51
While Gideon refuses the offer to become king over Israel, for all the right reasons, God is their king, he does solicit gifts and makes himself an ephod, setting the people up for idolatry. Why an ephod?, An ephod was a priestly garment into which the Urim and Thummim were placed to consult the Lord. Did Gideon presume to a priestly role? We are told that the Israelites “prostituted themselves” to the ephod and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. Apparently the people never truly returned to the Lord during the forty years of Gideon’s reign as they immediately returned to the Baals upon his death.
Philip finds Nathanael and tells him the good news that he has found the one promised but his information doesn’t exactly ring true to Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth” is the reply. No one expected Messiah to come from Nazareth, and we happen to know that Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem. All through this Gospel we shall see people judging Jesus based on the circumstances of his birth or where he is from or whether they know His parents and all of them are wrong in their judgments. Nathanael, however, believes Jesus based on Jesus knowing that Philip found him under a fig tree and makes the most remarkable set of confessions concerning Him, rabbi, Son of God, King of Israel. In response, Jesus speaks of greater things than these, the first time we hear those words in the Gospel but not the last, in the end, Jesus promises that these disciples will not only see but do greater things.
The “church” continues its remarkable growth. Five thousand believed because of the healing of the lame man and the preaching of the apostles concerning Jesus. The court’s question, by what power or name did they do this healing, set up an easy sermon for Peter but did he have the courage to preach it to these men? Indeed he did! His message was exactly what Philip proclaimed to Nathanael, Jesus of Nazareth but Peter added one word, Christ, the anointed one. It was an important addition to the description, one which surely infuriated the court. Jesus of Nazareth was innocuous enough but calling Him the Christ was going over the line and Peter then adds his favorite Psalm quotation regarding the cornerstone. (He uses it often in his preaching and in his epistles.)
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name for ever.
For great is your steadfast love towards me.
Psalm 145; Judges 8:22-35; Acts 4:1-12; John 1:43-51
While Gideon refuses the offer to become king over Israel, for all the right reasons, God is their king, he does solicit gifts and makes himself an ephod, setting the people up for idolatry. Why an ephod?, An ephod was a priestly garment into which the Urim and Thummim were placed to consult the Lord. Did Gideon presume to a priestly role? We are told that the Israelites “prostituted themselves” to the ephod and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. Apparently the people never truly returned to the Lord during the forty years of Gideon’s reign as they immediately returned to the Baals upon his death.
Philip finds Nathanael and tells him the good news that he has found the one promised but his information doesn’t exactly ring true to Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth” is the reply. No one expected Messiah to come from Nazareth, and we happen to know that Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem. All through this Gospel we shall see people judging Jesus based on the circumstances of his birth or where he is from or whether they know His parents and all of them are wrong in their judgments. Nathanael, however, believes Jesus based on Jesus knowing that Philip found him under a fig tree and makes the most remarkable set of confessions concerning Him, rabbi, Son of God, King of Israel. In response, Jesus speaks of greater things than these, the first time we hear those words in the Gospel but not the last, in the end, Jesus promises that these disciples will not only see but do greater things.
The “church” continues its remarkable growth. Five thousand believed because of the healing of the lame man and the preaching of the apostles concerning Jesus. The court’s question, by what power or name did they do this healing, set up an easy sermon for Peter but did he have the courage to preach it to these men? Indeed he did! His message was exactly what Philip proclaimed to Nathanael, Jesus of Nazareth but Peter added one word, Christ, the anointed one. It was an important addition to the description, one which surely infuriated the court. Jesus of Nazareth was innocuous enough but calling Him the Christ was going over the line and Peter then adds his favorite Psalm quotation regarding the cornerstone. (He uses it often in his preaching and in his epistles.)
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name for ever.
For great is your steadfast love towards me.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
4 August 2010
Psalm 119:97-120; Judges 7:19-8:12; Acts 3:12-26; John 1:29-42
Gideon’s army sounds the trumpets and breaks the pitchers and the Midianite army is put to flight. The surprise attack is a success and Gideon then calls on the other tribes to come to their aid in capturing and destroying the army of Midian. In the midst of the battle the Ephraimites decide to upbraid Gideon for not calling them sooner. Gideon could have asked where they had been the past seven years but didn’t, giving them glory for the capture of Oreb and Zeeb. In the midst of his chase of the kings he and his exhausted and famished army seek sustenance from their neighbors and are rejected by both Succoth and Penuel. To their minds, Midian is not defeated so long as their kings were alive. Gideon’s promise to both was that he would destroy them for this failure.
John, true to his call, points to Jesus as the fulfillment of his prophetic message. Did he know what he was saying when he referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God? Did he have any idea Jesus would be slain? It seems unlikely given his message that Jesus was here to judge the Jewish nation and the world, but the term is not common. John’s witness here is that he didn’t know who was the Messiah until the fulfillment of God’s Word that the dove would descend at baptism. John’s two disciples with him the following day take John at his word and follow after Jesus and receive an invitation to spend the day with him. They have moved from lesser to greater because of John’s encouragement.
Peter won’t have any deflection of blame to Pilate in the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate was ready to release him but YOU “rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and YOU killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” The healing, Peter says, is due to Jesus. In spite of this treachery, Peter says that they acted in ignorance (remember Jesus’ prayer from the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”) and therefore there is forgiveness available if they will repent. It is an amazing sermon Peter preaches. All the more so for his audience, the religious leaders who had power over him, the men who were responsible for the death of Jesus. Peter’s fear during the trial is replaced by remarkable boldness after the resurrection and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Unlike Gideon, Peter isn’t seeking revenge but offering pardon. Like John, Peter is pointing not to himself but to Jesus as the one whose death makes possible that pardon.
You are my hiding-place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Psalm 119:97-120; Judges 7:19-8:12; Acts 3:12-26; John 1:29-42
Gideon’s army sounds the trumpets and breaks the pitchers and the Midianite army is put to flight. The surprise attack is a success and Gideon then calls on the other tribes to come to their aid in capturing and destroying the army of Midian. In the midst of the battle the Ephraimites decide to upbraid Gideon for not calling them sooner. Gideon could have asked where they had been the past seven years but didn’t, giving them glory for the capture of Oreb and Zeeb. In the midst of his chase of the kings he and his exhausted and famished army seek sustenance from their neighbors and are rejected by both Succoth and Penuel. To their minds, Midian is not defeated so long as their kings were alive. Gideon’s promise to both was that he would destroy them for this failure.
John, true to his call, points to Jesus as the fulfillment of his prophetic message. Did he know what he was saying when he referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God? Did he have any idea Jesus would be slain? It seems unlikely given his message that Jesus was here to judge the Jewish nation and the world, but the term is not common. John’s witness here is that he didn’t know who was the Messiah until the fulfillment of God’s Word that the dove would descend at baptism. John’s two disciples with him the following day take John at his word and follow after Jesus and receive an invitation to spend the day with him. They have moved from lesser to greater because of John’s encouragement.
Peter won’t have any deflection of blame to Pilate in the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate was ready to release him but YOU “rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and YOU killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” The healing, Peter says, is due to Jesus. In spite of this treachery, Peter says that they acted in ignorance (remember Jesus’ prayer from the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”) and therefore there is forgiveness available if they will repent. It is an amazing sermon Peter preaches. All the more so for his audience, the religious leaders who had power over him, the men who were responsible for the death of Jesus. Peter’s fear during the trial is replaced by remarkable boldness after the resurrection and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Unlike Gideon, Peter isn’t seeking revenge but offering pardon. Like John, Peter is pointing not to himself but to Jesus as the one whose death makes possible that pardon.
You are my hiding-place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
3 August 2010
Psalm 78:1-39; Judges 7:1-18; Acts 3:1-11; John 1:19-28
The Midianites had ruled over the Israelites for seven years and made their lives a misery. They had been so ruthless that of the 32,000 men assembled to fight against them 22,000 were too afraid to fight if given the option of running home. Gideon must surely have assumed that the second “cut” would only reduce his force by 300 men but God chose them rather than the 9700 to fight against this fierce army. I wonder what they thought when they realized it would be them against the army of the Midianites AND the Amalekites. Gideon’s fears were allayed when he heard the men talking about the dream and he was willing to become the mighty warrior the angel had proclaimed him to be.
John is clear who is he and who he is not. Elijah, the Prophet and the Messiah were all expected. Elijah, recall, was taken up in the whirlwind before he died and the prophet Malachi had foretold that before the Messiah came Elijah would return (Mal. 4.5). The prophet was the one like Moses who would come, the one the Samaritans were expecting. (Deut. 18.15) John says he is none of the above but instead is simply a voice crying in the wilderness preparing the people for the coming of the Lord. His only role is to ensure that those who will listen have repented of their sins, been washed in the waters of baptism and are prepared to joyfully greet the Lord. His message to the Pharisees here is that the One is already here.
This healing is amazing in that this man had been carried to the Beautiful Gate and yet here he is leaping. The healing didn’t result in halting steps supported on a cane or walker but a man leaping in the air. The muscles that had not been used were strong enough not only to support him but to thrust him into the air and hold him up on his return to earth! How did Peter know that the Spirit would heal this man? The healing was impressive enough that all the people began to run towards Solomon’s Portico to see what had happened and they knew the man, they knew his condition. Like the story of Gideon, God didn’t stop at half-measures here. It was clearly a work of the Lord to do this healing.
We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
Psalm 78:1-39; Judges 7:1-18; Acts 3:1-11; John 1:19-28
The Midianites had ruled over the Israelites for seven years and made their lives a misery. They had been so ruthless that of the 32,000 men assembled to fight against them 22,000 were too afraid to fight if given the option of running home. Gideon must surely have assumed that the second “cut” would only reduce his force by 300 men but God chose them rather than the 9700 to fight against this fierce army. I wonder what they thought when they realized it would be them against the army of the Midianites AND the Amalekites. Gideon’s fears were allayed when he heard the men talking about the dream and he was willing to become the mighty warrior the angel had proclaimed him to be.
John is clear who is he and who he is not. Elijah, the Prophet and the Messiah were all expected. Elijah, recall, was taken up in the whirlwind before he died and the prophet Malachi had foretold that before the Messiah came Elijah would return (Mal. 4.5). The prophet was the one like Moses who would come, the one the Samaritans were expecting. (Deut. 18.15) John says he is none of the above but instead is simply a voice crying in the wilderness preparing the people for the coming of the Lord. His only role is to ensure that those who will listen have repented of their sins, been washed in the waters of baptism and are prepared to joyfully greet the Lord. His message to the Pharisees here is that the One is already here.
This healing is amazing in that this man had been carried to the Beautiful Gate and yet here he is leaping. The healing didn’t result in halting steps supported on a cane or walker but a man leaping in the air. The muscles that had not been used were strong enough not only to support him but to thrust him into the air and hold him up on his return to earth! How did Peter know that the Spirit would heal this man? The healing was impressive enough that all the people began to run towards Solomon’s Portico to see what had happened and they knew the man, they knew his condition. Like the story of Gideon, God didn’t stop at half-measures here. It was clearly a work of the Lord to do this healing.
We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
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